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This post is not out of arrogance or showboating but for the possibility that there are other beings out there besides myself who have not awakened. First of all, I have realized for some time now that I am God, however, parts of me weren't still convinced. If I am God, why live this human life? I used to believe that I could imagine better lives than the one I lived, but I was wrong. Many people believe this. If God is all-loving, why create this life of suffering? Tonight I asked myself this question: If God wants and only creates the best for himself, how could God get himself to act against his best interest? By convincing himself others exist. If God is infinite and everything, there can't be another besides himself. He is aware of this, but if he fooled himself into believing that others existed and he was a finite identity, then he could fool himself into wanting something other than the best infinitely possible thing AKA infinite love. Now God creates humans who believe in all sorts of BS about what they are, but as long as they identify as something finite, they will have bias towards something finite. That something finite is less and against the best interest of an all-conscious infinite being. Why wish for some puny pleasure as a human, when God could create infinite love? Because they are biased against other things which they believe to be different from themselves. When someone believes something to be different or separate from themselves, they now may fear that thing, because they are fooled into thinking it can threaten their false identity. But of course, you are God, and you cannot be killed or die. But God has convinced himself of this so that he can play a game with himself for all eternity. In this life, everything that happens is perfect and is in your best interest. You can either awaken to the fact that everything is planned perfectly by God so you can awaken back to being him, or you can deny this and keep living in your false finite fearful identity. Anxiety stems from fearing that all is not going to be okay. But, in fact, everything is going perfectly, and there's nothing you need to do to make that happen. MUCH LOVE TO EVERYONE EDIT: Fun quote i just had: Everything I ever feared became ways that helped me to awaken.

@Princess Arabia I always enjoy your posts and thoughtful responses to everyone. Fun to think we are one in the same without separation. @MellowEd My answer is the question is a trap. It is the Hindu Maya illusion. To engage with your question and to answer it is to stay asleep in the dream. I think Leo is correct. Salt and elements are concepts and we must let go of concepts. And I am still asleep because I just engaged with your question. Lol! There is no salt or elements. There is only this moment and direct experience. I don't claim to be awakened or enlightened. It sounds like you are. Is your question meant to awaken us? We must awaken on our own. It is the ineffable. Thanks for the post and question.

@undeather You talk too much. You've completely missed the point. Your argumentation is circular. I am going to tell you what you have and have not realized, and your reaction makes it apparent I am correct. Your words make no sense to your claims, and coming here saying you are awakened and using these authoritative arguments is again abysmal, childish, and not going to help you in any sense of the way, despite me coming across as harsh or not.

@undeather You’re not God realized or awakening. You want plain English? You have bastardized this work and you’ve started a thread to be close minded. You’ve asked multiple times for people to ‘just explain the problem with the concept of science.’ At the same time, ‘do you even know my ontological paradigm.’ You’re saying your own problems. No one who is awakened is in a ‘paradigm’ and science is just a concept just like religion. Figuring this science thing out will cause you emotional pain. Do not expect words on a screen to solve it for you. Until you’ve have had an extreme emotional feeling around this topic, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Leo was very lenient with you in my opinion- and brave at that. Trying to convince a scientist science is not perfect is like trying to explain to a christian the Bible was just analogous.

Leo Gura Ego Death & Reality vs. Dream [Part 2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YspFR9JAq3w Introduction to Part 2: The second part of the conversation with Leo Gura continues from where part one ended, exploring the nature of consciousness, and idealism, suggesting that individuals are expressions of God but have forgotten this truth. Curt Jaimungal's role and focus: Curt, a filmmaker with a background in mathematical physics, delves into theories of everything with a focus on the nexus between consciousness and theoretical physics. He shares his intent to examine these subjects with rigor and clarity. Interview dynamics and length: The interview is noted as the longest Curt has had, characterized by reflective pauses and moments of fervor that he chose to retain in the recording for their expressiveness. Recommendation for audience engagement: Curt encourages the audience to engage in deeper conversations on related subjects through the podcast's Discord and subreddit and thanks patrons and sponsors for their support. Sponsors' support for exploration: The support from sponsors like Algo, Brilliant, and Project Transcend is acknowledged, as it enables the podcast to delve into topics such as consciousness and various theories in theoretical physics. Curt's acknowledgments and reflections: He offers thanks to those who introduced him to Leo's content and reviewers who provided analysis of the previous interview, committing to better internalize and communicate Leo's teachings. Discussion approach and self-critique: Curt recognizes his own tendencies during the interviews, such as being overly contentious and neglecting to fully appreciate and convey Leo's points, pledging to improve future discussions by embracing Leo's terminology and ideas more openly. Balancing objections with openness: Curt admits his challenge in balancing skepticism with genuine truth-seeking, aiming to alter his approach by similarly considering what is right about Leo's perspective, not just potential flaws. Comments moderation policy: Curt explains his policy of engagement with audience comments, differentiating between critiques directed at himself versus ad hominem comments toward Leo, aiming to foster constructive discourse. Uniform oneness and fractal reality: The infinite field of consciousness must construct differences to manifest varied experiences, much like the Big Bang transitioning from oneness to a diverse universe. God's desire for exploration: Like a mathematician fascinated by the infinite intricacies of numbers, God explores its own finite aspects, desiring granularity over abstract infinity. Human vs. God imagination: Humans imagine within physical and societal constraints, but from the God perspective, there are no limits to manifesting entire universes or new experiences. Psychosis and societal norms: Those with unbounded imaginations, like individuals experiencing psychosis, often find difficulty adhering to the consensus reality and can face institutionalization or exclusion. Survival and maintaining humanness: The limited scope of human imagination is tethered to the necessity of maintaining a coherent human experience and aligns with societal survival mechanisms. The responsibility to explore: Despite the limitless imagination from the divine viewpoint, humans face the responsibility of staying grounded in consensus reality to function and survive. Imagining new realities: God's boundless imagination can envision anything, including new universes or continents, transcending the limitations of human conceptualization. Constrained human imagination: Humans are limited in what they can imagine, as losing grasp on consensus reality can lead to dysfunction and being labeled as psychotic or schizophrenic. Survival's grip on imagination: The attachment to survival constrains our ability to experience reality beyond the physical; fear of death roots us in this dream life, preventing exploration of infinite possibilities across universes. Disclaimer for at-risk individuals: Leo issues a warning that those with mental instability or contemplating suicide should be cautious with these concepts and anchor themselves in reality to handle survival basics. Life's value amidst non-duality: While reality is a dream and life may seem insignificant from an absolute point of view, Leo urges valuing life as a precious gift, maintaining good health, and not succumbing to harm based on philosophical explorations. Relative vs. absolute perspectives on life and death: Actions like suicide are neither fundamentally wrong nor right, fitting within infinite reality; the decision is relative, with Leo finding reasons such as terminal illness sometimes justifiable, but generally advocating for appreciating life's beauty. Interplay between evidence and definitions of God: Echoing Tyler Goldstein's sentiment, Leo suggests that a lack of evidence for God should inspire a transformation of the definition of God, emphasizing truth-seeking over god-seeking and staying open to surprises on the spiritual journey. Unknown specifics within infinity: Leo distinguishes between general omniscience, realizing the concept of infinity, and specific omniscience, which details exact knowledge of events or entities; he admits many individual aspects of existence remain mysterious even when aware of infinity. Illusions of objective reality: The consensus concept of objective reality is questioned as layers of shared imagination create illusionary objectivity, highlighting the challenge in distinguishing between vivid dreams and waking life cohesion. Differentiating degrees and kinds: Curt explores the question of when differences in degree between entities or phenomena translate into differences of a fundamentally different kind, a notion not fully appreciated in debates like pro-life vs. pro-choice or the analogy between dream states and waking life. Imagination and distinction: Leo addresses the question of difference and imagination, explaining that differences are relative and subject to how they're delineated by the mind, which can alter some boundaries, like the definition of when life begins, while others, like physical separations, are more fixed by universal laws or physics. Cohesion and consistency in reality: He elaborates on why reality feels solid and persistent, contrasting this with the fluidity of dreams. Cohesion and consistency are crucial for constructing a reality indistinguishable from a dream without glitches, which requires a consistent dreaming process. Hallucination and material reality: Psychedelics are discussed as tools that reveal the malleable nature of material reality, challenging materialist perspectives and forcing a reevaluation of the solidity of reality constructs, such as the brain or atoms. Literality of labels: Leo argues that labels like "real" and "unreal" are variable and that reality is an interplay of imagination where even constructs like Santa Claus can be real in the context of consciousness, highlighting the need for a worldview adjustment when we redefine terms. Academic attachment to model of reality: He critiques the academic and scientific tendency to rigidly anchor reality in concepts like materialism, which filter out experiences that don't fit within their paradigm, warning that this approach limits our understanding of an infinite reality. Dissolving physical limitations: Leo explains that through the expansion of consciousness and the use of psychedelics, even seemingly solid physical boundaries can begin to dissolve, similar to experiences in dreams, illustrating the influence of imagination on perception. Permanence of differences: By using the example of one's wife vs. Santa Claus, Leo contends that differences we perceive as permanent are actually variable, subject to change under different conditions, and that materialists err in assuming the fundamental permanence of such distinctions. Literal interpretation of scientific rigor: Scientists often believe in the rigorousness of their fields, like mathematics and logic, but Leo argues that the perceived concreteness is an illusion; even quantum mechanics involves metaphorical explanations. Limitation of the scientific mindset: A rigorous approach to reality creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, where a scientist's expectation of strictness and precision shapes their perception, leading to a reality that reflects these biases, similar to a conspiracy theorist creating a paranoid worldview. Construct awareness: Leo emphasizes a developmental stage called "construct awareness," where individuals realize how their minds construct their perceived reality. Most scientists have not reached this stage, hindering their ability to transcend materialism and fully understand the infinite nature of reality. Ego's defense mechanisms: The mind-scientific or otherwise-constructs a limited reality and defends this model by denying or discrediting experiences that contradict it, creating a hermetically sealed worldview. Problems with logicism and paradoxes: Leo discusses historical attempts, such as Gottlob Frege's, to base all of mathematics on logic, which were undermined by paradoxes like Russell's Paradox. Such endeavors reveal the impossibility of fully capturing infinite truths within finite logical systems. Inadequacy of logical proofs: Proofs depend on the prior existence of truth. Leo criticizes the common assumption that every truth must be provable, suggesting instead the recognition of truths beyond provability and the limitations of reason. Limits of consistency and provability: Gödel's incompleteness theorem, which trades off between consistency and provability, underlines limitations. When discussing logic, Leo points out that accepting contradictions opens up infinite possibilities, which is more reflective of reality's true nature. Contradictions in logic as a pathway to infinity: Leo explains that contradictions allow for the recognition of infinite possibilities beyond what a finite logical system can accommodate, consistent with the infinite nature of reality. Limits of scientific models: Leo argues that scientific methods are useful within restrictions but fail to grasp the full complexity of reality, particularly in the realms of quantum mechanics where classical concepts don't apply. Ontological presuppositions in science: There is a dissonance where scientists claim to avoid ontological assumptions while implicitly operating within them, restricting the scope and limiting the understanding of relational reality versus objectivity. Scientism versus pure investigation: Leo differentiates between science entangled with ontological assumptions and the pure process of investigation free from metaphysical biases, suggesting that the former can hinder the discovery of deeper truths. Ontological assumptions in science: Scientists often unconsciously adopt a certain ontology and may be defensive and unaware of it, which can limit the scope and application of science. Materialist exploratory limitations: The process of debunking supernatural explanations (e.g., fairies, angels) through materialism and logic does not guarantee that this approach can be extended to the entire universe, as reality is infinite and science assumes a finite reality. Infinite versus finite methodologies: Since reality is infinite, using science-a finite method-to grasp all of reality is fundamentally flawed. Science is useful for understanding parts of reality but fails to address questions like "Why is there something rather than nothing?" Identifying limits of scientific inquiry: It's challenging to predetermine which questions science can or cannot answer. This meta-scientific question reveals the testing limits of scientific methods, as fully exploring and applying science to the universe is near-impossible. Science's sneaky ontology: Science often denies inconsistencies within itself and covertly brings in ontological assumptions about separate, discrete objects that it cannot prove-e.g., one's body being distinct from another's. Construct-aware science: Science should become construct-aware, recognizing how it constructs nature in the process of scientific inquiry. Transforming science's foundational philosophy and epistemology can enable groundbreaking research. Confusing models with reality: Science may claim not to make ontological claims and only provides models for predictions. However, Leo asserts science does make ontological claims by denying areas where it is inconsistent, failing to grasp its own construction of reality. Merging East and West knowledge: The integration of Western and Eastern perspectives is key, as Western philosophy and mysticism contain ideas typically associated with Eastern thought, challenging the East versus West dichotomy in understanding reality. Leo's synthesis of Eastern and Western philosophies: Despite the perception that Eastern philosophy is more aligned with his ideas, Leo asserts that his teachings are not novel but are rooted in the wisdom of Western philosophers, Christian mystics, and Sufi and Jewish mystics, advocating for a unified view of wisdom across cultures. The importance of progress: Leo embraces the Western concept of evolution and progress but redefines its purpose as an evolution towards higher consciousness and love. He emphasizes that progress is intrinsic to human and societal development. Compatibility of Leo's ideas with Western values: While acknowledging the material benefits of Western civilization, Leo sees a need to reintegrate the spiritual elements back into Western society to create a balance between material and spiritual development. Reconciling notions of progress with spirituality: Leo explains that understanding evolution from a spiritual perspective gives deeper meaning to Western scientific advancements, suggesting an evolutionary purpose and a target for humanity. Perpetuation of evolution and scientific advancement: Leo expects that future societies will not abandon material advancements like science, politics, and capitalism but will evolve to include mystical understanding. Progress in cognitive and moral development: Highlighting the importance of models from developmental psychology, Leo points to evidence of societal progress in increasing construct awareness and meta-thinking, as well as in fortifying pluralism, reduced discrimination, and an expanding sense of global ethics. Eastern and Western conceptions of reality: Leo finds the Eastern notion of a protean, cyclic reality fashionable, but believes the Western concept of a linear, distinct reality with moral absolutes also holds value, implying the necessity to merge both perspectives for a comprehensive worldview. Retaining Western advancements: Leo asserts that advancements from the Western tradition need not be lost; instead, they should be woven with spiritual understanding, alluding to a harmonious evolution of both material and spiritual dimensions within society. Absolute vs. relative insights: Distinguishing between absolute truths about the nature of existence and relative perspectives on societal matters, Leo acknowledges that his views on the latter may evolve while his understanding of absolutes like God or infinity remain unchanged. Anti-fragile nature of humanity: Leo believes mankind is exceptionally resilient due to selfishness, which paradoxically prevents self-destruction and ensures survival despite causing harm through actions like environmental damage or warfare. Self-correcting mechanism: He views humanity as inherently capable of learning from mistakes, implying that as pain from issues like climate change is felt, society will mobilize and enact change, showing an upward trend in collective conscious awareness. Learning through suffering: Suffering is seen as a key driver of human growth, with Leo suggesting that while wisdom can enable learning without suffering, most of humanity needs painful experiences to evolve. Metaphysical necessity of pain: Though suffering is not deemed metaphysically necessary for AI, Leo views it as vital for human psychological development given current evolutionary constraints. Feasibility of mind uploading: Leo dismisses the materialist pursuit of mind uploading as naive, criticizing figures like Ray Kurzweil for misunderstanding consciousness. He likens the ego, which materialists attempt to upload, to an illusory concept akin to Santa Claus. Exploring consciousness beyond computers: Leo promotes spiritual practices like meditation and psychedelics over technological advancements, suggesting they offer deeper insights into consciousness than computational means. Future consciousness exploration: He envisions a transformative future where genetic understanding of consciousness might create mystic generations capable of evolving human awareness far beyond current limitations. Experiencing versus understanding consciousness: Leo differentiates between the experience of consciousness and the empirical study of its architecture, suggesting a blend of spiritual experience and material study is necessary to truly understand consciousness. Science and metaphysics evolution: Leo and Curt discuss the evolution and integration of scientific understanding and metaphysical insights, emphasizing a balance between scientific models and direct spiritual experiences. Distinction between science and psychic realms: Physical reality, like the motion of the moon, appears consistent and deterministic, whereas psychic phenomena resemble uncertain quantum states, producing only probabilistic intuitions that are not guaranteed. Denial of psychic phenomena by materialists: Psychic phenomena have been statistically validated, but materialist scientists deny them to preserve their paradigm. They require paradigm opening before accepting such evidence. Open-mindedness and extraordinary evidence: Extraordinary evidence necessitates an extraordinarily open mind. Materialists mistakenly believe closed-minded scrutiny suffices for understanding extraordinary claims, underestimating the role of mindset in acknowledging evidence. Materialistic standards conflict with non-materialistic phenomena: Materialism's rigid standards fail to accommodate non-materialistic domains like psychic phenomena, hindering recognition of existing evidence. Empirical verification of God through psychedelics: Using psychedelics like 5-MeO-DMT can empirically reveal the existence of God. Materialists reject this method as hallucinatory, but scientific integrity requires practical application of the method before dismissing its validity. Consistency of psychedelic experiences: Leo states all psychedelics lead him to a state of infinite consciousness or love, with the type of psychedelic merely altering the "flavor" of the experience. Transformation through challenges: By directly confronting deep-seated fears like insanity, one gains empathy and a deeper appreciation for sanity and reality, despite potential loss of rationality or functionality. Limitations of language in expressing truth: Leo stresses the importance of experiencing states of consciousness beyond linguistic constructs to understand reality's transformative power, as language and concepts are insufficient in capturing profound realizations. Spiritual and intuitive inquiry: Curt clarifies his pursuit is not solely about building rational models but also involves intuition and judgment, recognizing that meaningful aspects of life transcend strict rationality. Critiques based on worldview differences: Some view Leo's insights as beyond Curt's rational model-focused approach, but Curt emphasizes his broader interest in truth and awakening beyond formal models. Models versus actuality: Leo cautions that a Theory of Everything is a concept, emphasizing the distinction between concepts and the true nature of being, advising truth seekers to focus on fundamental reality. Extraordinary open-mindedness as a prerequisite for insights: The acceptance of unusual phenomena like psychic experiences depends on an open-minded approach, contrasting with the skeptical framework that predetermines outcomes based on existing beliefs. Changeability of the mind: Despite its stubbornness, the human mind can change given sufficient experience, exemplified by Leo's shift from materialism to a belief in God following a profound experience. Experience vs. belief: Direct experience always trumps belief, and individuals will change long-held beliefs when confronted with undeniable evidence, yet the mind resists experiences that could challenge its current worldviews. Materialist perspectives and avoidance: The materialist mind may avoid experiences that challenge its skepticism, such as attending 'hippie-dippy' events associated with psychedelics, due to preconceived notions of what is unscientific or a waste of time. Michael Shermer's openness: Skeptic Michael Shermer surprisingly attends Deepak Chopra's meditation retreats despite apparent ideological differences, indicating an openness to experiences beyond his usual skepticism. Beliefs shaping reality: Leo clarifies that while reality is ultimately imaginary, believing alone doesn't materialize desires like wealth. Imagination is deeper than belief, and while both a chair and Santa Claus are imaginary, Santa is a weaker form of imagination under ego control, unlike the chair which is part of a universal imagination. The ego's control and definition of reality: The ego defines reality based on what it does not control, which is typically outside the individual's influence-what the ego perceives as objective reality. Ego perception and self-bias: The ego perceives reality selfishly, corrupting the understanding of good, love, and reality itself by defining them in terms that benefit it personally. Control, omnipotence, and belief in finitude: Omnipotence implies indistinction between the controller and the controlled, but believing oneself to be a finite form, like a human body, naturally limits control. Skepticism and worldview: Genuine skepticism involves questioning even one's skeptical worldview, recognizing that it often serves as a defense mechanism rooted in fear and not a path to ultimate truth. Fear and its impact on truth-seeking: Fear is antithetical to genuine truth-seeking as it often signifies a rejection of uncomfortable or challenging aspects of reality, whereas genuine pursuit of truth accepts reality no matter the cost. Science and its assumed path to truth: Leo challenges the assumption that science necessarily leads to truth, suggesting that scientists need to be willing to accept that science, as a methodology, could be a delusion if ultimate truth demands it. Leo's perspective on truth and selfishness: Leo discusses the connection between fear and truth, indicating that fear is an avoidance of one's infinite self, which is the truth. All fears are ultimately unfounded since they are based on imagined distinctions that do not exist in a state of infinite consciousness. Fear of losing self in the pursuit of truth: Leo and Curt explore the fear associated with pursuing truth, contemplating the implications of shedding all selfishness as potentially leading to self-destructive actions. This highlights the deep existential concern that without selfishness, one might act in ways that are contrary to personal survival and well-being. Dynamics of fear in relationship to awakening: Truth is equated with infinite love, and falsely perceiving differences in experiences as good or bad breeds fear. An awakened state is characterized by the absence of fear, as one recognizes all experiences as equal manifestations of the infinite self. Balance between love and survival: The conversation touches on the nature of reality as a game, where the avoidance of infinite love equates to a necessary survival mechanism. Leo sees this reluctance to face truth as a fundamental aspect of life and a way to maintain existence. Surrender to truth as equivalent to truth-seeking: Leo defines surrendering as the act of fully accepting reality as it is, which equates to seeking truth. Ego resists this surrender due to its perceived need for control and survival. Metaphor of Satan/Lucifer for ego: The figures of Satan and Lucifer are described as symbols for the ego's illusion of separatism and control-representing the ego's attempt to dominate its own realm contrary to the boundlessness of truth. Dichotomy between philosophical denial of free will and behavior: Atheists like Sam Harris may intellectually deny free will but still behave as if they exercise control, displaying cognitive dissonance. Leo discusses that despite philosophical beliefs, everyday reactions suggest an underlying expectation of control. Cognitive dissonance between belief and behavior: Leo illustrates how the ego creates complex ideologies that obscure the connection between worldview and suffering, culminating in cognitive dissonance where actions contradict proclaimed beliefs. Difficulty of separating concepts and being: Leo explains the challenge of using language that inherently suggests separateness, distinguishing between upper case "You" representing the all-encompassing self and lower case "you" denoting individual identity within the larger universal context. Science creating distinctions: Science relies on distinguishing between what's considered scientific and non-scientific (pseudoscience), upholding a dichotomy that defines science's boundaries. Reality inclusive of non-science: However, science's denial of non-scientific elements, like Santa Claus, is a denial of aspects of reality, as all things are part of reality – even those deemed non-scientific by its standards. Science of conceptual entities: The possibility of a valid scientific exploration of conceptual entities like unicorns exists, which differs from their physical existence, focusing instead on their conceptualization within reality. Encountering worldview contradictions: When faced with ideas that contradict one's worldview, the response may be to embrace contradictions or claim that these contradictions paradoxically support one's existing beliefs. Authority in determining truth: Seeking an external authority for truth is common, but non-duality suggests that truth must come from within as all distinctions, including authority, collapse, leaving only the self as the judge of truth. Self-authority as the ultimate truth: In non-duality, since God (the infinite self) has no outside, it has no external authority; thus, whatever God (the individual) deems true becomes its reality – showcasing the infinite power of self-authority. God's capacity for self-deception: Despite God's infinite authority, it can deceive itself indefinitely, conjuring its own reality based on its imaginations, which for the finite self (lowercase 'u') may be construed as delusions. Lowercase 'u' vs. uppercase 'U': There is a distinction between truth from the finite, individual self (lowercase 'u') and the infinite self (uppercase 'U' or God) with the latter being fully authoritative in its declarations of truth. Hermetically sealed worldviews: Individuals create closed-off systems of belief, mistaking them for the ultimate reality, while non-duality reveals the capacity to construct and deconstruct such systems. Love as the essence of reality: Addressing the nature of God and truth, Leo explains that the essence of reality is infinite love, challenging the constraints of isolationist and finite perspectives. Dynamic of surrender and spiritual growth: The journey towards infinite love involves continuously surrendering finite definitions of self, progressing to a state of peace where all perspectives, even conflicting ones, can be accepted without defense. Self-criticism as an indicator of care: The act of self-criticism implies an underlying sense of care and correct orientation, suggesting a person's conscientiousness despite potential over-seriousness in personal evaluation. Guilt and developmental stages: Guilt is recognized as evolutionarily necessary at lower levels of development to confront ego-driven actions, but higher spiritual realizations require self-acceptance and the cessation of self-judgment. Complexity of guilt dynamics: The spiritual journey involves a paradox where recognizing one's flaws calls for self-love and self-forgiveness, even in the face of egregious missteps, which challenges societal norms and traditional religious precepts. True integration of Christian teachings: Leo explains that fully embracing Christian teachings means loving oneself unconditionally despite one's flaws, yet not using this as justification for harmful actions. Social acceptance vs spiritual honesty: Expressing the philosophy of self-acceptance can be socially threatening, as it seems to offer a carte blanche for sin, which society construes as dangerous for collective thriving. Concept of sin and societal constructs: Leo discusses sin as a societal construct meant to facilitate legal and social order, suggesting that a deeper understanding and release of the concept may paradoxically lead to more virtuous behavior. Karmic consequences of labeling sin: The labeling of actions as 'sinful' sets up a karmic dynamic where one sees reality through a moralistic filter, creating cycles of guilt and self-recrimination. Self-forgiveness amidst serious mistakes: Leo emphasizes the importance of maintaining love for oneself even after serious errors, viewing this acceptance as a pathway toward spiritual growth and evolution. Upholding moral standards while embracing non-duality: Leo acknowledges the difficulty of reconciling the non-dualistic acceptance of all facets of oneself with societal norms that demand moral accountability and condemnation of wrongdoing. Challenging conventional views of divine encounters: Leo redefines typical responses to divine encounters, suggesting one need not apologize or feel sorry to God, as the assumption of sin and the accompanying guilt are unnecessary in the face of divine acceptance. Seeing all as divine, including Jesus and Hitler: Leo states that all beings are divine, including historical figures like Jesus and Hitler, noting that recognizing the divinity in oneself and in all is integral to spiritual awakening. Jungian shadow integration related to God-realization: He links the process of integrating one's shadow with the realization of God, suggesting embracing all aspects of oneself, even those labeled as evil or unwanted, is essential for true love and understanding. Asymptotic process of shadow integration: The full integration of one's shadow is described as an ongoing, asymptotic process that never quite reaches completeness but continuously evolves toward greater wholeness. Spiritual realization as a choice free from compulsion: Leo stresses that the pursuit of truth, awakening, or God should be a voluntary choice motivated by intrinsic desire and not out of obligation or forced reasoning. Personal integration of honesty for spiritual advance: Honesty is underscored as vital for spiritual advancement, with Leo recalling a personal experience where acknowledging his own deceptions was a prerequisite for further development. The foundational role of honesty: Honesty serves as a foundational principle for approaching truth and facilitates a clearer perception of reality, essential for both spiritual and personal growth. Lies, karma, and self-deception: Lies mix selfish intent with truth, and perpetuating them creates suffering and distortion of reality-this karmic dynamic is intrinsic to ego-based deception and is countered by honesty. Weaponization of ideals: Leo illustrates how partial truths can be twisted to fit one's worldview, like a vaping CEO dismissing studies for self-preservation. This self-deception involves first lying to oneself, then others, often unconsciously, and becomes the foundation for a distorted perception of reality. Consequences of deep lies: Living a life built on deep lies one cannot face has profound karmic repercussions, as it forces one to avoid the truth and hold a skewed view of concepts such as science, leading to an ongoing conflict with reality. Survival conflicts with truth: The ego's survival instinct can create a conflict of interest, leading to a denial of facts that threaten one's livelihood or deep-seated beliefs, often resulting in a twisted worldview that rationalizes personal agendas. Self-deception and devilry: The most insidious form of deception is the strategic intertwining of truth with lies, carried out by the ego to justify selfishness under the guise of partial truths, a process Leo defines as "devillery." Finite versus infinite: Leo discusses the sinfulness associated with finiteness, suggesting that conflating the part for the whole leads to problems, akin to the Gnostic view that materiality is sinful. Leo advises recognizing the holographic nature of reality, where each part reflects the whole, thus bridging the apparent gap between the finite and infinite. Holism versus fragmentation: Leo posits that ultimate truth lies in holistic perception, while fragmentation and focusing on parts as complete "wholes" results in falsehood, similar to how science might propose it can understand everything. Lies tied to finiteness: Curt Jaimungal questions the connection between lies (which he associates with finite aspects) and sin, proposing that finite elements and temporality may be intimately linked to what's considered sinful. Leo confirms this, explaining the concept of holography in consciousness, where every part, even something as small as a charger cable, carries infinity within it, challenging the notion that finiteness is inherently profane. Curt's approach to interviews: Curt recognizes the need to focus on what is right about a speaker's points and rephrase them in an agreeable way, rather than just pointing out contradictions. Literal mindedness and scientific attitude: Leo observes that scientifically minded individuals can be overly literal, expecting reality to follow simple binary logic like ones and zeros in a computer, but human minds function in a much looser way. Computational models of reality: In response to computational approaches to theorizing about reality, Leo points to chaos theory's proof that you can't predict systems like weather long-term because of the butterfly effect, supporting computational irreducibility as recognized by Wolfram. Models vs. reality and their limitations: Leo cautions about getting too lost in models to the point of ignoring the actual world. He states that models are crucial, but not infinite, and cannot predict everything or reach infinity. Map vs. territory concept: Leo discusses how models (maps) can become so detailed that people might forget to experience real life (the territory), warning against becoming too absorbed in models to the detriment of engaging with the actual world. Impact of isolation and shallowness of social interactions: Leo admits a preference for deeper engagements with reality over shallow social interactions, explaining why some mystics seek isolation. However, he doesn't advocate total disengagement and values connecting with all types of people. Flip side of isolation: Curt self-reflects on his personal antisocial tendencies, valuing deeper connections with family, and the impacts of projecting onto others, recognizing the potential to push oneself toward social engagements as a spiritual practice. Pressures and temptations for the wealthy: Curt speculates on the additional spiritual challenges faced by the wealthy, noting that material abundance can make spiritual focus more difficult, contradicting the common dismissal of the rich as merely materialistic. Handling ego and spiritual growth alongside everyday life: Both Curt and Leo discuss the challenge of maintaining spiritual growth and applying it in practical aspects like business, family, and politics, without retreating into monk-like isolation. Models, precision, and the trap of detail: Leo advises Curt to balance the big picture with the attention to detail, expressing concern that exclusive focus on conceptual work may hinder personal spiritual awakening. The 'better the model, the bigger the problem' view: Leo introduces the idea that highly refined models can become a hindrance rather than an aid in understanding reality, as they may draw attention away from direct experience and interaction with the world. Effects of fame on Leo Gura's social life: Leo reminisces about a time when he was more publicly recognized, noting a decrease in such occurrences as his content delved into niche subjects. Views on personal vices and habits: Leo discusses his perspective on watching porn and eating meat, explaining that he doesn't see such activities as detrimental to his spirituality and acknowledging the healthy push towards vegetarianism. Spirituality in unconventional spaces: Leo shares experiences of discussing spirituality in places like strip clubs, indicating that profound insights about the divine can emerge even in seemingly unlikely or non-traditional settings. Jailbreaking the mind: The process of spiritual growth and ego death can be likened to jailbreaking a phone, which carries inherent risks and may lead to detrimental outcomes if not done carefully. Fear of negative consequences: Curt expresses a concern that fully surrendering to what he perceives as God's will could result in harmful actions like suicide or harming others, revealing a profound fear of trusting himself and the world. Attachment and prioritization: Curt admits his attachment to his wife and life, suggesting that his reluctance to change or surrender these attachments indicates a prioritization of survival over spiritual truth. Facing physical death and the leap of faith: Leo insists that confronting physical death is essential for experiencing God, and true awakening requires accepting the risk of death and being willing to "jump" into infinite love. Rapid-fire questions and focus on Leo: Despite intentions to discuss more personal aspects of Leo, the conversation delves deeper into his spiritual ideas with rapid-fire questions on his perspective and experiences. Challenges in promoting a Theory of Everything: Leo offers advice to individuals like Steve Scully, who propose theories of everything but struggle to gain recognition, suggesting a long-term commitment to developing and sharing their theories instead of seeking instant validation. Information sorting and fringe theories: The challenge faced by individuals like Curt in deciding which theories to explore, amidst an abundance of both serious and crackpot ideas, is outlined, emphasizing the importance of careful discernment and the evolving ability to recognize valuable theories. Personal examples of fear and ego management: Curt shares his fears around engaging deeply with spiritual topics, including the concern of self-harm or harming others, as well as the difficulty of managing his ego post-psychedelic experience. Popularizing personal theories: Leo emphasizes that success and recognition in sharing theories require persistent self-promotion and providing value rather than relying on a single influential person to "put you on." He encourages creators to continuously work hard and explore multiple avenues, such as reaching out to various influencers, starting one's own channel, or offering unique value to potential collaborators. Persistence despite rejection: Leo advises those facing rejection not to be discouraged but to persist and increase their efforts in promoting their work, suggesting that the more effort one puts in, the more likely luck will favor them. Offering value for collaboration: When seeking opportunities for collaboration or promotion, Leo highlights the importance of offering something of value in return, whether through bringing subscribers, sending gifts, or other means that can appeal to the potential collaborator's interests. Evolution from indie filmmaking to TOE: Curt reflects on his transition from indie filmmaking, abbreviated as "if TOE," to working on theories of everything ("TOE"), seeing it as symbolic of his growing open-mindedness and readiness to embrace broader understandings. Staying still while recording videos: Leo shares that sitting during recordings helps maintain a still posture and avoids distractions like looking at oneself, which ensures a focused and engaged delivery to the camera. Challenges of non-linear thinking in public speaking: Leo discusses his biggest speaking challenge-maintaining structure in his speeches due to his highly nonlinear and intuitive mind that naturally explores various threads and tangents of thought. Perception of own influence and followers: Leo reveals that the amazement of having a large following fades over time as one gets accustomed to it; he also addresses the dangers of ego inflation from fan admiration and the necessity of balanced feedback. Viewing critics as trolls: Curt considers taking serious criticism as a means of improvement, while Leo suggests that some critics are indeed trolls and that it's necessary to differentiate between constructive criticism and non-helpful negativity. Using spirituality to avoid psychological issues: Spiritual bypassing is discussed as the misuse of spirituality to evade addressing personal problems, implying that genuine spiritual growth requires confronting one's shadow and working through psychological challenges. Questioning the necessity of suffering for spiritual growth: Leo questions the belief that suffering is necessary to attain spiritual heights, warning against self-fulfilling prophecies and encouraging a recognition that spiritual awakening can happen easily for some people. Reinforcement of perception: The way you perceive the world often reinforces itself – difficulties can become self-fulfilling prophecies based on one's mindset, advising caution against negative outlooks. Advice to younger generations: Leo emphasizes the practical value of imparting wisdom to youth so they can avoid repeating historical mistakes and navigate life more effectively, recognizing the importance of learning from elders and ancestral wisdom as crucial. Increasing disregard for wisdom: Discusses the modern cultural decline in the appreciation of wisdom, exacerbated by social media and other influences, making a case for why wisdom, even within academia, is crucial and should not be hastily discarded. Idealized views of spiritual figures: Misconceptions about Jesus and Buddha are likely due to the development of myths over time, with actual historical knowledge quite scant, suggesting that if details of their lives were known, they'd seem less deified and more human. Jesus's special consciousness: While everyone embodies divinity in some sense, Leo speculates that Jesus possibly had a uniquely high baseline consciousness with paranormal abilities, illustrated through variability in human traits such as height and cognition. Thumbnail selection process: Leo actively collects various images online and from stock photo sites, keeping them for future video topics. He occasionally modifies images in Photoshop, aligning with his aesthetic orientation and graphic design experience. Video preparation method: Leo combines both premeditated outline preparation and spontaneous expression during recordings. For technical subjects, he prepares outlines but prefers improv as it yields more organic insights, albeit with the risk of missing key points. Video recording technique: Videos are shot in a single take without edits, a skill developed over time akin to live public speaking. Leo uses a teleprompter-like setup with a two-way mirror for notes, enabling a natural flow. Opinion on UFOs and altered states for contact: Personal lack of experience with UFOs but believes in their existence due to the abundance of reports across time and cultures. Claims the difficulty of capturing fast-moving objects like UFOs on camera should not dismiss their existence. Open to the idea that altered states or specific methodologies like CE5 could potentially facilitate contact with extraterrestrial entities. Spiritual perfection and imperfection: Leo points out that even entities recognized as spiritually elevated, like Jesus or the Buddha, likely had imperfections, and their historical depictions are probably idealized, with actual videos likely showing them as less divine than portrayed. Jesus's unique abilities: Speculates that Jesus had extraordinary conscious and mystical abilities due to genetic makeup, possibly healing certain individuals which contributed to his supernatural reputation. Content creation and selection process: Describes an aesthetic approach to choosing thumbnails for videos, accumulating a collection of images for future use, and personally modifying them to fit video themes. Non-edited recordings: Leo recounts his practice of recording videos without cuts similar to live public speaking, which has improved his articulation over time. Acknowledging the existence of UFOs: Leo believes in the plausibility of UFOs, acknowledging the challenge in capturing them on camera, and suggests personal experiences strongly influence an individual's belief in such phenomena. Riffing vs. outlining for content delivery: Mentions a balance between pre-contemplation and casual delivery of content, with some topics requiring detailed preparation, while others benefit from impromptu speaking for authenticity. Critique of UFO skepticism: Challenges the idea that all UFO evidence is unconvincing or hoaxed, considering the technical difficulties of photographing fast-moving objects and the substantial anecdotal evidence suggesting their reality. Occam's Razor Misapplication: Leo considers the dismissal of UFOs as a misuse of Occam's Razor. He believes that given the vast number of stars and planets, the existence of aliens is highly probable, challenging the simplistic application of this principle by skeptics. Bayesian Reasoning Flaws: Leo criticizes Bayesian reasoning for being susceptible to subjective biases. It assumes starting probabilities that cannot be known and is affected by the reference class problem, making it unreliable for making conclusions about phenomena like UFOs. Probability Assessment Challenge: Discussing the issue of assigning probabilities to unique events, Leo notes the inherent difficulty in determining the chances of occurrences like UFO sightings and points out how personal experiences can drastically alter someone's perceived probability of such events. Intuition as Consciousness Access: Leo describes intuition as an aspect of consciousness that allows for logical leaps without a formal pattern. It's an irreducibly mysterious element he ties to infinite intelligence, and while he believes intuition can be developed, he refrains from recommending specific books on the topic. Role of Arts in Awakening: Leo sees beauty as fundamental to reality and ties art to participating in the creative process of God. He views art, including music, films, and his own work, as expressions of God's creative power and encourages people to treat every aspect of life, from business to cooking, as an art form for a fulfilling existence. Art and Psychedelics: Addressing the appreciation of art under the influence of psychedelics, Leo discusses the ability to perceive beauty in all forms, and the shift in perception that allows even the mundane to appear divine. He suggests that all music, including "left-brain" music, can be experienced as profound under psychedelics. Experiencing Psychedelic-Induced Psychosis: Leo talks about his states of madness during mushroom trips, describing them as humbling and developing empathy for those with mental illnesses. He emphasizes the importance of facing fears of insanity and learning from the experience. Sanity Appreciation: He reflects on the value of sanity, which is often taken for granted until lost. Leo stresses that losing sanity briefly aids in understanding its importance and appreciating the grounding and coherence it provides. Ontology and Epistemology Coupling: In the CTMU, ontology and epistemology are understood to be inseparably coupled, a contrast to their traditional separation. Chris Langan suggests that through truths like Gödel's incompleteness theorem, reality can't fully be explained by reason alone. Language and Non-Language: Leo warns about equating everything with language or reason, as he differentiates between human language and other forms of expression, which can include experiences beyond language. He invites those engaged in logical or conceptual work, like followers of the CTMU, to attain states of consciousness where language doesn't apply, enriching their understanding beyond linguistic constructs. Psychedelics vs. Traditional Enlightenment: Addressing the comparison between psychedelic experiences and traditional forms of enlightenment, Leo clarifies that the core truths of absolute reality are uniform and can be accessed through various means, whether psychedelics or meditation. He emphasizes that while his teachings do not exclusively advocate for psychedelics, they are an accessible tool for those not adept at or committed to profound meditative practices. Relativity of Spiritual Practice: Leo agrees with the premise that attempting to bring the absolute into the relative is somewhat delusional, given the illusory nature of separation. However, he portrays this process as a personal and deliberate choice of delusion for one's own sake – a conscious game rather than a genuine effort to convert others who, from a non-dual standpoint, don't exist separately. Possibility of Perfect Embodiment: Leo is open to the idea that it could be metaphysically possible to embody the absolute perfectly, but pragmatically, he sees this as incredibly challenging due to human limitations. He actively discourages imposing expectations of perfection on oneself or spiritual teachers, recognizing that finite physical and psychological factors inevitably influence one's actions and thoughts. Expectations in Spiritual Teaching: He warns against the trap of using any imperfection in spiritual teachers as evidence to discredit their insights, illustrating the futility and potential ego-serving nature of such critiques. Leo advises a balance between striving for alignment with spiritual truths and exercising compassion towards oneself and others in the face of inevitable human imperfections. Jesus in Modern Times: If Jesus returned to the current era, modern evangelicals might reject him as a communist for advocating to care for the poor. Evolution Beyond Atheism: There's a cognitive development trajectory from fundamentalist Christians, to atheists who question beliefs, to a deeper understanding of God, embodying true Christian values. Sly Answers of Spiritual Figures: Like a Zen master, Jesus avoided affirming or denying claims of being the Son of God, embodying humility and avoiding the egoic pitfalls of explicitly claiming divinity. Teacher-Student Dynamic: Teaching inherently suggests superiority, and some spiritual practitioners may refrain from teaching to avoid these implications and the shortcomings of language in conveying truth. Leo on The Ra Material: Leo finds the core teachings about infinity in The Ra Material aligned with his views, but remains skeptical of its more esoteric claims, such as the construction of the Egyptian pyramids being a manifestation of consciousness rather than built manually. Hypothetical Issue with Leo's Theory: A scenario where a daughter imagines a $100 bill on her desk based on her mother's assertion examines layers of imagination in perception. Leo suggests all parties, including the daughter, mother, and $100 bill, are imagined within imagined layers, challenging the notion of objective reality. Objective Reality and Consensus: The concept of objective reality may relate to multiple layers of mutual imagination. Leo emphasizes reaching an understanding of the absolute, where the distinction between the absolute and notions of objectivity collapses. Leo Gura's Social Manner: Although perceived as serious online, Leo claims to be relaxed and playful in social settings, not always discussing profound topics like God. Social interactions and relatability: In casual social interactions, Leo discusses everyday topics like cat videos instead of deep metaphysical concepts to relate to people on a familiar level, which he finds enjoyable and necessary. Recommendations on psychedelic use to family: Leo has indeed recommended strong psychedelics to his family but does not push them to partake; he respects their individual choices and recognizes his mother's resistance due to traditional views. First-person reality experience: Leo's first-person experience of reality remains visually consistent but has undergone a profound recontextualization; every aspect is now seen as absolute truth, God, and imagination, rather than just a human perception. Perceiving objections as ego defense: When engaging with others, Leo acknowledges valid disagreements and differences in perspective; however, he also recognizes when people's objections stem from ego defenses, though not all objections are seen this way. Navigating arrogance and ego: Leo admits to sometimes feeling arrogant or looking down on others with lower consciousness or wisdom levels; managing this involves cultivating compassion for others' ignorance and recognizing one's own spiritual ego. Approach to justice and punishment: Leo doesn't rule out the death penalty in extreme cases where rehabilitation fails and immediate threat prevention is necessary, but he supports efforts towards rehabilitation consistent with certain Scandinavian models. Distinction between disapproval and condescension: Leo advocates for making survival-based societal decisions, such as imprisonment, without becoming morally superior; he distinguishes between disapproving of someone's actions and condescendingly looking down upon them. Recognizing and overcoming condescension: While truthful judgments about lower levels of consciousness can occur, it's a matter of balance and evolving beyond tendencies to look down on others by empathizing with their circumstances and recognizing the truth in their actions. Admitting personal shortcomings: Leo openly admits to his own shortcomings, recognizing instances where he has unjustly looked down on others and hopes to grow beyond such behavior. Rehabilitation and human error: Leo favors investing in rehabilitation over harsh punishment, understanding human behavior can often be attributed to circumstances beyond one's control, advocating for humane approaches within the justice system. Improvement of mental models: When confronted by others' seemingly poor decisions, rather than assuming superiority, consider updating personal mental models to more empathetically understand their actions. Philosophy of universal goodness: Deepening understanding may lead to the realization that all actions are inherently good, progressing toward the view that everything is absolutely good. Personal standards and self-judgment: Differences in self-regulation are highlighted, with Leo permitting himself occasional "sins" without self-rebuke, trusting in natural outgrowing of such behaviors, while the interviewer maintains tighter self-restraint. Leo's upbringing advantages: A balanced family dysfunction in childhood fostered Leo's independent thinking and work ethic, with his parents not imposing any strict worldviews, aiding in his open-minded development. Cultural perspective from emigration: Moving from Russia to the USA as a child allowed Leo to experience cultural relativism firsthand, understanding American cultural norms as somewhat arbitrary compared to different background. Educational opportunities and challenges: Acknowledges a fortunate upbringing with quality education in Southern California, despite financial challenges, which taught him fiscal responsibility. Attachments to Actualized.org: Leo recognizes his work with Actualized.org as his significant attachment and contemplates the potential need to disengage for further spiritual advancement versus the possibility of expanding his teaching. Treating life purpose as a game: Leo suggests finding fulfillment through engaging in a personal 'art form' that aligns with spiritual development, blending creative endeavors with the pursuit of spirituality. Practicality and spiritual work: Leo admits being practical and grounded in material life benefitted his spiritual work, and it's uncertain whether to pursue a more public teaching role or personal retreat for spiritual advancement. Judging others: Leo still judges others at times, acknowledging it as a work in progress, striving to overcome this behavior as his understanding evolves. He emphasizes that truly comprehensive understanding inherently encompasses empathetic perspectives of universally "good" actions. Leo's perspective on playing life seriously: Leo compares engaging in life to playing a serious game like Dark Souls, advocating for approaching every aspect with intense focus and curiosity. Early involvement in Bioshock Infinite: His initial role in Bioshock Infinite during pre-production was minimal; he contributed to early concept discussions, including proposing the idea of a female companion in the game, inspired by Half-Life 2. Breaking into game design: Leo entered game design through modding, creating a popular mod for Oblivion which he then used as a portfolio to get hired at Irrational Games. Job interview challenges: Sharing his experience with job interviews, particularly one with Todd Howard from Bethesda, Leo reflects on his early lack of interview skills and excitement that hindered his performance. Project development dynamics: Discussing game design processes, Leo describes pre-production stages where a team collaboratively discusses game mechanics, critiques past projects, and ideates future directions around a conference table. Leo's self-acknowledged "vice": Arrogance is identified as Leo's vice, stemming from his quick dismissal of what he perceives as "bullshit" and occasionally looking down on others, citing a developed skill for quickly detecting falsehoods in various domains. Public recognition over time: Leo notes that public recognition has decreased since his content has become more niche and YouTube traffic has grown more competitive; he recalls past experiences of being recognized in public. Personal consumption habits: Leo addresses vices like porn, which he does not view negatively in relation to his spiritual practice, and eating meat, despite a desire to shift toward vegetarianism or veganism for health and ethical reasons. Influence of consumption habits on spirituality: He argues that habits like masturbation do not detract from his consciousness or spiritual practice, and highlights the importance of personal responsibility and genetics in potential addictions. Leo's dietary choices: Due to energy requirements and the physical sensation of cold, Leo's attempts at a vegetarian diet have been unsuccessful. He remains open to alternatives like lab-grown meat but feels technology is not yet advanced enough to adopt fully. Perspectives on the porn industry: Leo has conflicting views on porn; he acknowledges issues in the industry and suggests avoiding it as it might skew perceptions of people as interchangeable. However, he mentions a trend towards user-generated content that reflects genuine relationships, which he views more positively. Preferences for high-quality adult content: Leo considers himself a connoisseur of porn, preferring premium, artistically shot adult content that enhances aesthetic appreciation over typical low-quality material. Finding spirituality in unexpected places: He recounts discussing spirituality and enlightenment with strippers at a Vegas strip club, illustrating his belief that divine understanding can exist in unconventional settings. Leveraging unusual topics to connect with others: Leo finds discussing psychic phenomena and hallucinations to be effective conversation starters, especially with women who are generally open to these topics. Leo's daily routine variability: Health issues cause inconsistency in Leo's routine, leading to days filled with varying activities-including work, relaxation, or coping with poor health-depending on his physical state. Balancing hard work with self-compassion: While Leo has a natural drive to work, he has learned the importance of self-care and compassion, especially regarding health-related limitations. Attachment to work and spiritual depth: Leo acknowledges that his conceptual work and recording videos can hinder deeper spiritual practices, as they involve analytical thinking which needs to be put aside for profound personal development. Embracing intuition alongside rigor: He attributes much of his insight to an intuitive understanding that helps him quickly discern the essence of ideas without getting lost in details, suggesting a balance between holistic intuition and focused study. Leo's perspective on intellectual rigor: Leo debates the merits of intellectual rigor, cautioning that getting lost in the minutiae may prevent one from seeing the bigger picture and reaching the highest level of understanding. Trade-off between details and the big picture: Leo expresses a preference for the big picture rather than getting bogged down in technical details, arguing that you can miss fundamental truths by focusing too much on specificity. Allocating energy between theories and truth: Leo advises Curt to develop a method for managing time and mental resources, warning that an obsession with theories and models can hinder the path to awakening. Curt's dilemma between rigorous study and awakening: Curt expresses concern that his meticulous nature and focus on developing a Theory of Everything could impede personal spiritual growth, potentially perpetuating the intellectual journey without reaching absolute truth. Existential decision on channel focus: Curt considers removing his name from his channel's title to underscore its goal-oriented nature and his role in contributing to the quest for a Theory of Everything, reflecting on whether he'll be the one to achieve it or pass the baton to another. Awakening's impact on Curt's work: Leo conveys that achieving awakening would significantly empower Curt's work, providing a unique perspective valuable to the scientific community, and marking not an end but a renaissance for his personal endeavors. Negative feedback and personal transformation: Leo shares experiences of negative feedback from personal development, highlighting the resistance to change by family, friends, and the community. He stresses the significance of pursuing authenticity over maintaining a "happy" facade. Curt's serious demeanor in interviews: Curt explains his seriousness during podcasts as an effort to remain engaged and authentic, avoiding superficiality and inviting genuine, in-depth conversation. Seriousness in online content: Leo advises Curt to focus on authenticity in his videos rather than modifying content due to seeming overly serious, as it's important for genuine engagement. Spiritual figures claiming godliness: Leo addresses the question by saying that many spiritual figures do indeed identify with God, but often use subtler language to avoid misinterpretation and the perception of arrogance. The danger of proclaiming divinity: Claiming to be God can be life-threatening, and throughout history, individuals like Mansur Al-Halaj have been executed for such proclamations. The suppression of these truths is linked to survival, as they can undermine societal structures and beliefs. Difficulty in articulating profound insights: Leo notes that some of his deepest insights are challenging to communicate due to the limitations of language, and he encourages listeners to see the convergence in spiritual teachings toward the concept of oneness. Information manipulation strategies: Leo warns about individuals or groups who deliberately spread misleading information to confuse people and push selfish agendas, exemplified by Steve Bannon's strategy of "flooding the zone with bullshit." Leo's message of love: When addressing humanity, Leo would convey that reality is fundamentally love, questioning why existence would be anything but infinitely loving. Advice for growing influence: Leo suggests maintaining energy and passion, not allowing critical feedback to affect self-perception, avoiding burnout, and combining intellectual pursuit with spirituality for a significant impact. Blurring lines between concepts and being: In constructing a Theory of Everything, Leo cautions against confusing concepts with actuality, emphasizing the need to base theories on primary and absolute truths. Navigating strangeness and awe in reality: Leo reflects on life's beautiful strangeness and the need for a constant sense of wonder, recognizing reality's intrinsic mystery. Final word to Curt's audience: Leo advises TOE enthusiasts to discern between being and concept, emphasizing the primary nature of direct experience and actuality over secondary conceptual understanding. Experiencing the Alien Nature of Reality: Leo expresses wonder at ordinary objects like dinner forks, encouraging a perspective where everything is seen as alien-that is, seen for the first time without assuming familiarity or taking it for granted. Gratitude Towards Existence: Leo experiences intense gratitude for life, appreciating everyday experiences and even the chance to have the conversation he's having, acknowledging the feeling as undeservedly lucky. Appropriateness of the Term 'God': When directly confronting the concept of God, Leo argues that the most fitting response is one of profound awe, exclaiming "Oh my God" or "Oh my fucking God" to express the grandeur and profundity of the experience. Personal Invitation from Leo Gura: In a friendly offer, Leo invites the host to hang out with him for deeper conversation and connection, moving beyond the confines of an interview setting. Matthew Phillips and the Transcend App: Matthew Phillips shares the inspiration for creating Transcend, a platform designed to facilitate deep, meaningful communication, spurred by personal loss and the desire to preserve the essence of loved ones. Holistic Purpose of Transcend: The app aims to enable users to share important life stories and advice with a focus on intimacy and authenticity, without being driven by superficial engagement metrics commonly seen on other social platforms. We Transcend Initiative: Transcend introduces a program to donate app subscriptions to individuals facing end-of-life situations or terminal illnesses, allowing them to preserve their legacies and stories for loved ones. Helping to Preserve Memories for the Elderly: The app is typically used by caregivers who assist those with Alzheimer's or dementia, acting as a memory care tool to safeguard their narratives for future generations. Legacy as Elevation of the Human Condition: Concluding the section, Matthew Phillips articulates his belief in the power of legacy to improve the human experience, viewing it as a critical yet overlooked element of life. Mission of Transcend app: Transcend aims to empower everyone to capture and pass on their life story, with the belief that everyone's story matters and has the potential to make progress easier for future generations. Fulfilling a sacred obligation: The creator of Transcend feels that the app allows him to honor predecessors while also fulfilling a duty to future generations by preserving knowledge and wisdom. Early access to Transcend: The app is near its beta release, with invitations extended to users who sign up at projecttranscend.com, aiming to facilitate meaningful family connections and legacy preservation. Utilizing Transcend with family members: Curt Jaimungal expresses interest in using the app to capture and preserve interactions with his parents, highlighting its personal significance. Leo Gura as a content contributor: Transcend considers Leo Gura an ideal candidate to create engaging prompts for the app, providing value to users and enriching experiences. Creating meaningful conversation with prompt cards: Transcend plans to include "starter packs" with themed prompts meant to enhance conversations by raising thought-provoking questions, much like physical relationship cards currently used by some couples. Intrinsic reward system within Transcend: Instead of relying on likes or hearts, Transcend focuses on intrinsic rewards such as the satisfaction of creating permanent and meaningful content. Transcend differentiating from social media: The app avoids typical social media engagement metrics, promoting authenticity and purposefulness by facilitating content creation motivated by meaning rather than external validation. Ego management post-psychedelic experience: Leo is asked for suggestions on how to maintain the perspective of ego dissolution experienced during psychedelic use on a day-to-day basis without recurring use. Navigating spiritual growth amidst relationships: Leo is asked for advice on balancing profound spiritual experiences with maintaining connections to loved ones who may not be on the same spiritual journey. Dealing with the paradox of ego death: The paradox arises after an ego death experience, where one gains new wisdom but must manage the ego's return; Curt reflects on how to handle this dichotomy. Ferula

Leo Gura Infinite Consciousness, God Realization [PART 1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-w8k4smC74 Leo Gura's introduction: Leo Gura is the founder of Actualized.org, a psychonaut, mystic, and proponent of idealism, believing consciousness is fundamental. He views his audience as aspects of God who have forgotten their true nature, aligning somewhat with Rupert Spira, yet with distinct differences. Curt Jaimungal's introduction: Host of the podcast, Curt, is a filmmaker with a background in mathematical physics, interested in the connection between consciousness and fundamental laws. Need for repeated viewing: The episode encourages viewers to watch more than once for better understanding, especially due to initial skepticism towards Leo's certainty in his views. Humanizing skepticism: Leo displays humanizing skepticism around the four-hour mark, making his propositions more relatable and helping to untangle biases. Part two announcement: A follow-up part focused on Leo Gura's personal experiences is planned due to the extensive discussion only partially covered. Leo Gura's disclaimers: Leo issues disclaimers highlighting the potential psychological impact of exploring deep existential questions, especially for those with mental health concerns. He discourages turning his ideas into ideologies or cults. Alien intelligence analogy: Considering his radically different worldview, Leo asks to be treated as if he were an alien intelligence to bridge communication gaps between his and conventional worldviews. Open-mindedness and truth-seeking: He commends Curt for modeling radical open-mindedness, essential for understanding profound existential questions, showcasing Curt's intellectual approach. Truth's merciless nature and worldview development: Leo states that truth can be merciless, challenging casual speculative pursuits of reality. He contrasts his definitive answers with academic theoretical speculations, advocating for direct experience as the foundation for truth. Embodiment of philosophy: Leo questions whether adopting principles equates to embodying a philosophy. He emphasizes living according to ideals like truthfulness and intellectual honesty but suggests that this is only a surface-level understanding of embodying philosophy. Intellectual beliefs versus living reality: Differentiating between intellectually knowing something and living it, Leo explains minds can hold beliefs, such as atheism, while behaving contradictorily as if higher principles or entities exist. Self-deceptive nature of the mind: The mind is adept at constructing elaborate self-images and identities based on beliefs or perceived worldviews. These can often be misaligned with reality and actions, particularly in terms of professing certain spiritual or moral ideals while behaving contrary to them in practical life. Distinctions between identity and ideals: There's a common disconnect where individuals espouse virtues like selflessness and honesty, but actions reveal inherent selfishness. Leo highlights the importance of introspection and aligning one's behavior with their proclaimed values and beliefs. Hypocrisy in religious and scientific communities: Leo observes hypocrisy both within religious adherents, who may not mirror the selflessness of figures they idolize (e.g., Jesus), and scientists, who claim open-mindedness yet are resistant to non-traditional ideas or concepts they deem "woo-woo." Leo's "non-worldview" and God-realization: He insists that his teachings are not a worldview but a direct path to recognizing absolute truth 듮hat there's only one existent entity, infinite consciousness, which individuals are a part of; everyone is an aspect of God dreaming the entire universe into existence, equating daily life to hallucinations akin to nightly dreams. Technical definition of "hallucination": Leo provides a technical definition, framing it as perception without external input. This aligns with his view that the physical body and experiences are appearances with nothing behind them; reality and hallucination are not distinct, but a matter of persistence and consistency in one's perceptions. Critique of the concept of reality as an intersection of observers: He partly agrees with Chris Langan's ideas but emphasizes the human capacity to erase and redefine perceptual boundaries, asserting that all distinctions are imaginary and can be created or dissolved by the mind. Critique of Chris Langan's model of consciousness: Leo appreciates Langan's intellect but distinguishes between conceptual models and direct realization of God consciousness. He argues that Langan's work, while academically rigorous, is conceptual and cannot substitute for the experiential realization of being God. Reality's lack of constraints: Ultimately, Leo concludes that reality is boundless and unrestricted, leading to mind-shattering paradoxes beyond current conceptual and academic models. Arrogance and assumptions in defining paradoxes: He suggests that while models like Langan's might address the existence of paradoxes in the non-physical realm, there remain deeper layers to be understood, and the ultimate level of consciousness reveals a reality that is truly unconstrained and paradoxical. Dream analogy for awakening: The analogy comparing awakening and dreaming asserts that ordinary reality is akin to a dream, and so-called awakened individuals have realized this, transitioning to a higher state of consciousness. The persistence of people and the world after someone awakens is due to others still dreaming, not the analogy being flawed. Shared Dream Reality: Leo insists that the perception of a shared dream is a personal illusion. Since each person is God, the awakening of any individual causes their unique dream world and its inhabitants to cease within their perspective. Falsifiability of the dream state: The notion that reality is a dream-like experience cannot be falsified, according to Leo. He argues that the concept of falsifiability, a critical principle in scientific methodology, has a fundamental flaw when applied to absolute truth. Skeptical investigation of truth: Leo recounts his shift from extreme skepticism and atheism to deeper inquiry into the nature of knowledge, questioning even his skepticism and realizing that reality is limited to personal experiences. Science within the dream of consciousness: Leo expresses that science and its proofs are confined within the dream of consciousness, cease to exist upon death, and are illusions within the current experience bubble. Falsifiability and absolute reality: Leo critiques the reliance on falsifiability in science by stating that absolute truth encompasses all dreams, self-deception, and potential wrongs, making it unfalsifiable as it includes the concept of falsifiability itself. Infinity and levels of consciousness: Discussing infinite consciousness, Leo claims that there is an ultimate level of consciousness that infinitely expands in all directions, imagining all possibilities, which cannot be surpassed or invalidated by a higher state. Skepticism about skepticism: Leo encourages skeptics to doubt their skepticism, logic, and even the workings of their own minds, advocating for a deeper questioning that includes these meta-criticisms. Tautological nature of reality: The conversation converges on the idea that reality, at its pinnacle, is a tautology, simply existing as it is, similar to the logical truth that one equals one, without additional explanatory power. Introduction of Matthew Phillips and the Transcend app: Matthew Phillips describes Transcend as a mobile app allowing users to capture and preserve their personal stories for posterity, highlighting the importance of one's legacy and providing tools for deeper connections with loved ones. G漆el's influence on truth and provability: G漆el's Incompleteness Theorem demonstrates that truth transcends provability; not all truths can be proven within a formal system, highlighting the limits of proof in understanding absolute reality. Conception of infinite consciousness: Leo clarifies that one's finite conception of infinite consciousness is not truly infinite. True infinite consciousness encompasses all possible existences, leaving nothing external to it. Limitations of language regarding infinity: The discussion acknowledges linguistic shortcomings in conveying the concept of infinity, distinguishing between conceptual orders of infinity and the notion of absolute infinity. Georg Cantor's Absolute Infinity: Cantor's development of set theory and the idea of different orders of infinity lead to the recognition of an "absolute infinity," which he symbolized with omega and equated with God. Leo emphasizes that even this concept is limited compared to the true nature of absolute infinity. Absolute Infinity beyond all imaginations: Leo explains absolute infinity as extending infinitely beyond all human constructs like mathematics, physics, or film, encapsulating literally every possibility. Debating the bounds of consciousness: Leo challenges the idea of anything existing beyond consciousness, arguing for a state where consciousness is all-encompassing, thereby negating any notion of external entities or realms. Transcendence of consciousness: Leo posits that consciousness is transcendental, not limited by physical laws or logical constraints, and underlies the existence of everything. Infinite regress of skepticism: Leo demonstrates that skepticism itself is part of consciousness and cannot escape it, leading to an infinite regress of possible doubt. Recognition and limits of finite consciousness: Leo draws an analogy to a donkey's inability to recognize itself in a mirror to illustrate the difficulty in explaining consciousness to someone not at an infinitely conscious state. He suggests that finite beings invent hypothetical entities beyond consciousness out of scepticism, not realizing everything they imagine is contained within consciousness. Platonic hat argument: Leo uses a playful analogy, equating claims of an even higher state beyond consciousness to a conceptual one-upmanship that doesn't address the inherent nature of consciousness and truth. Infinite Regress of Self-Deception: Infinite regress of self-deception showcases that any claim of truth can be met with an infinite chain of counterclaims, illustrating that truth can't be fully captured by arguments or models. God-realization as Meta Awareness: Being God-realized means being aware of the infinite regress and acknowledging that every description of God is just a finite aspect of an incomprehensibly meta and endless reality. The Tautology of 'One Equals One': The self-evidency of tautologies, like "one equals one," underlines their unfalsifiability and hints at infinite truths that are beyond standard logical proofs like reductio ad absurdum. Relativity of Absurdity: The notion of what is considered absurd is relative and cannot form a stable basis for dismissing claims, as what may be seen as absurd in one context might be accepted in another. Unfalsifiability of Truth: Truth is inherently unfalsifiable; the most difficult propositions to falsify or prove wrong are precisely those that might actually be true, thereby confronting the limits of proof and falsifiability in epistemology. Impact of Social Media on Meaningful Living: Social media breeds disconnection and competition contradicting meaningful living principles such as being present, loving, non-judgmental, and time-conscious. Project Transcend's Approach to Legacy: Project Transcend enables users to document their legacy, emphasizing a private, data-controlled approach for sharing beliefs and life experiences with future generations, unlike standard social media. Endurance of Truth: Once aware of the truth, an individual remains unshakable in that knowledge. Yet, the acknowledgment of potential self-deception is crucial, as one must deeply investigate truth for oneself over years. Skepticism and Nested Self-Deception: The self-deception of skepticism is pivotal, where nested layers of deception obscure the truth even further, making self-awareness a critical part of epistemology. Distinction Between Nescience and Ignorance: Nescience simply means not knowing, devoid of the wilful choice implied by ignorance, but the true problem lies in holding false beliefs, underscoring the importance of properly engaging with epistemology before metaphysics. Imaginary Nature of Hierarchies: At an absolute level, hierarchies are seen to be imaginary, with consciousness realizing its oneness to the extent that all distinctions dissolve, leaving a formless unity. Substance of Reality: The true substance of reality is nothing, as all perceived substances are distinctions within consciousness instead of being something tangible like atoms or energy. Limitations of Language in Grasping Reality: Language, by nature, is dualistic and cannot capture the essence of reality, which requires understanding beyond spoken or conceptual distinction like that between a chicken and a coffee table. Nature of distinctions: Distinctions such as those between a chicken and a coffee table are imaginary constructs of the mind. Without them, all things would merge into a single entity, which would essentially be nothing, and this nothing is what Leo considers infinity. Language and its limitations: Language was not intended for philosophical undertakings and is rooted in practicality, much like classical Newtonian mechanics, which are useful despite their known inaccuracies in representing absolute reality. Length as a relative measure: Leo challenges the concept of length as an absolute measure, highlighting its dependence on relative points of reference and suggesting that, at a fundamental level, distinctions like length are imagined. Ontological relativity: Leo introduces the notion of ontological relativity, suggesting that the distinction between objects like a chicken and a coffee table only exists within our perception and that without this distinction, they would become indistinguishable, merging into a single entity which is effectively nothing. Instrumentalism and science: Differentiating between the notion of science as instrumentalism, which focuses on practical predictions and measurements, and his own view, which is that even the distinctions used in science are not truly conscious understandings but rather conceptual tools that ultimately fail to capture the essence of reality. Existence and consciousness: Discussing the relationship between existence, consciousness, and love, Leo implies that these concepts are entwined at a metaphysical level and are present in all things, overturning materialistic assumptions that limit love to emotional experiences of advanced organisms. Emergence of scientific acceptance: Leo admits that some ideas that once seemed radical, like panpsychism or integrated information theory, are gaining more acceptance within the scientific community, suggesting that truth will eventually become more widely recognized. Concept of love: Leo explores the metaphysical meaning of saying "you love bacon," connecting it to a phenomenological experience of tastes and textures that consciousness biases towards, comparing it to less desirable experiences like eating a cricket. Biased vs unbiased love: He proposes that at the level of God consciousness, all distinctions between experiences collapse, leading to an unbiased love for all experiences. This contrast is made against human consciousness, which has preferences and biases necessary for survival. Definition of metaphysical love: Leo offers a technical definition of metaphysical love as the realization of no difference between anything, equating this realization with falling in love with oneself and all reality infinitely. Symmetry of the universe: He theorizes that the universe is perfectly symmetrical and unbiased, questioning why it would prioritize anything, such as particular human actions, at a universal scale. Problems of discussing existence with language: Both Leo and the interviewer, named Curt, acknowledge the challenge of discussing reality with language, as it can degrade or complicate the understanding, referencing Wittgenstein's philosophy on talking about the ineffable. Role of life experiences in awakening: Leo asserts that every life event, good or bad, is necessary for one's realization as God듮his realization encompasses everything one encounters, including mundane or seemingly negative experiences. Precision in language and public dialogue: The conversation transitions into the limits of language and how precise communication is vital to prevent misconceptions and misinterpretations in discussions about complex concepts like love and consciousness. Child's Concept of Energy: Children can be conditioned to associate specific objects, such as ducks, with concepts such as energy through reinforced learning, similar to how society conditions individuals to have selective biases about what or who is appropriate to love. Challenging Cultural Notions of Love: Leo argues against the culturally ingrained biases that determine acceptable objects of love, advocating for a universal application of the term 'love' to everything, mirroring the interconnectedness found in physics where all phenomena are forms of energy. Language's Limitations and Rehabilitation: The limitation of language in conveying complex ideas is discussed, with suggestions of either dismantling language's structure or refining it for greater precision. Leo insists on rehabilitating corrupted words like 'love', 'truth', and 'God' to their purer, more profound meanings. Resistance to 'God' and 'Love' Labels: Leo observes resistance to using terms like 'God' and 'love' and interprets this as an avoidance of a deeper realization that everything is an embodiment of these concepts. He underscores the need to recognize arbitrary biases in love and stresses the importance of connecting these biases with the concept of absolute love. Finite Nature of Hate: Hate, seen as a reaction to aspects of reality, is argued to be finite in nature, contrasting with the infinitude of love. Leo differentiates between relative love, which can include hate, and absolute love, which fully encompasses hate, likening it to the totality of the yin-yang symbol. Free Will as a Duality: Leo addresses the concept of free will as being perceived in opposition to determinism, highlighting nature's tendency to incorporate both aspects of any duality. He distinguishes different answers to the existence of free will based on one's level of consciousness. Infinite Nature of God's Will: At the highest level of consciousness, God is described as an infinite mind with no external restrictions, implying that any limitations are self-imposed through imagination and self-deception. This leads to the notion that limits are illusory, and omnipotence is God's true state. Self-Deception in Limitation: The paradox of omnipotence is discussed, suggesting that God can only experience limitation through an illusory belief in finitude, such as imagining oneself to be a limited human instead of an unlimited entity. This self-deception is essential for God to experience anything less than omnipotence. Concept of Absolute Good: Everything in the universe, even actions that are typically seen as negative or evil, are manifestations of absolute good because they arise from a state of selflessness inherent in the totality of existence. Potential of Omniscience: Leo Gura opens up the possibility for oneself to attain a state of complete knowledge or omniscience, challenging the idea that it is impossible and encouraging an openness to the potential of becoming all-knowing. God Realization After Death: The concept discussed suggests that upon death, an individual's self dissolves into God, achieving unity with the omniscient being. This realization implies a reunification with the absolute essence of all that is. Theory of Everything (TOE) Definition: Gura contends that a true TOE must satisfactorily address not just physical phenomena but also answer the fundamental question of why anything exists at all, encompassing both the physical universe and existence with a capital "U." Exploring Belief Limitations: Gura indicates that a self-fulfilling belief in the impossibility of achieving omniscience during one's lifetime acts as a barrier to the realization of that potential, similar to how preconceived notions can obstruct the discovery of new knowledge like the existence of a platypus. Investment in Truth: Truth-seeking is presented as requiring active engagement and investment, akin to the dedication exemplified in the construction of the Large Hadron Collider to discover the Higgs boson, suggesting that deep truths and profound TOEs are discovered through committed effort, not passive contemplation. Sharing of God's Creativity: The reason for existence according to Leo is rooted in God's creativity, where God, as an infinitely loving and selfless being, creates all possibilities and shares that infinite beauty with finite forms that can later reunify with the infinite source. God's Nature of Love and Creativity: An intricate link is drawn between love, creativity, omnipotence, intelligence, and consciousness. The essence of God is depicted as endless creativity and the act of creating everything conceivable듯nderstood not as an action of love but as the fundamental state of love itself. Reflection of Love in Creation: Casting God's act of creation as an expression of its very nature, Gura suggests that the manifestation of infinite forms is an ultimate act of sharing and a reflection of love, defying anthropomorphized conceptions of God and embracing creativity as intrinsic to the essence of love. Multiverse and Anthropic Principle Critique: The multiverse theory and anthropic principle are critiqued as insufficient explanations for the fine-tuning of the universe's physical laws, with the assertion that the true explanation for existence lies in the creation of everything simultaneously. Creation and destruction dichotomy: Creation and destruction are intrinsically linked, exemplified in ecosystems where life and death support one another in a continuous cycle, refuting the naive dichotomy that creation is solely good and death is inherently bad. Finite Creation: All human-made creations are finite by necessity, delineated by excluding all other possibilities, forming a reality defined by limitations and distinctions. Memory and Consciousness: Just as working memory limits how many thoughts can be simultaneously held, finite creation and imagination are constrained, unable to encompass infinity without transitioning into nothingness or undefined potential. Superposition and Reality: In imagining all possible animals merged into one, a perfect superposition represents infinity or nothingness듯ndefined until distinctions are made, illustrating the paradoxical nature of creation as both defining and limiting reality. Paradoxes in Universal Concepts: Discussing set paradoxes and properties of imagined universes, highlighting issues of considering individual components versus a collective understanding and the elasticity of the concept of reality. Reality as Singular Existence: The exercise illustrates that reality must be a singular entity, as even the notion of separation among multiple realities would itself be part of one encompassing reality, eliminating the distinction between what's real and unreal. Material and Immaterial Boundaries: Challenges the distinction between reality and unreality, suggesting that boundaries are illusory and recognizing all as part of one reality leads to an infinite understanding of existence. Personal Growth and Variability in Psychedelic Experiences: Leo emphasizes his personal commitment to growth and understanding reality, recognizing individual differences in responses to psychedelic substances and their potential influence on consciousness expansion. Existence beyond concepts: Leo challenges the notion that edges of existence are within our reach, proposing that one could theoretically see everything in the universe simultaneously, thereby negating the possibility of unseen or non-existent aspects. Understanding existence: Leo contends that it's possible to fully understand what it means to exist beyond particular forms and that awakening means realizing non-existence as a concept, not a reality. Absolute existence: In Leo's view, existence is absolute, suggesting that concepts of non-existence and beyond infinity are merely thoughts within the infinite framework of consciousness. Qualia as absolute truth: Leo describes the profound nature of existence, inviting contemplation on the immediate experience of one's hands as an example of undeniable truth, untouched by constructs like time, space, or matter. Meditative exercise for realizing consciousness: Leo guides through an exercise aiming to illustrate the immediacy of consciousness and reality, emphasizing the importance of direct experience over intellectual pondering. Infinite consciousness and imagination: Leo discusses the elasticity of infinity, which by its nature, includes all things든ven concepts of what lies beyond it, and concludes that what seems like physical reality is ultimately based on an act of imagination. Donald Hoffman's Interface Theory: Leo critiques Donald Hoffman's Interface Theory, which suggests that human perception does not depict reality truthfully due to natural selection. He argues that Hoffman's theory is flawed because perception itself is the truest form of reality든verything perceived is absolutely real. Scientific Reductionism Criticized: Leo vehemently opposes scientific reductionism, the view that phenomena can be explained by reducing them to their constituent parts. He posits that being is fundamental and cannot be reduced to concepts, which biases scientific inquiry away from direct contact with reality. Qualia as Reality: Leo asserts that qualia, or personal experiences of phenomena, define reality. He disputes the idea of an independent world beyond experience and challenges scientific paradigms that differentiate between qualia and objective reality. Misconception of Representation: He highlights an epistemological issue in how science relies on symbols, which are not the things they represent. This leads to an endless chain of concepts never grasping the tangible essence they aim to describe. Existence of Concepts: Discussing the nature of concepts, Leo suggests that everything, including abstract notions like Santa Claus or quarks, exists at least as a concept but that doesn't infer their material existence. Substance and Concept: He differentiates between the substance of things (reality) and our concepts of them. He emphasizes that concepts, such as atoms or strings, developed after the tangible reality they attempt to describe, indicating a misinterpretation by science of the order of reality. Fallacy of Discovering Quarks: Leo challenges the notion that scientists discover particles like quarks, stating that they merely invent the concept to represent what they believe to be the foundational elements of reality. Qualia Realness Inquiry: Leo confronts materialistic views by asking for evidence of anything existing outside of qualia, thereby arguing that everyday experiences and sensations are as real as they are perceived. Tautology of Experience: He points out the tautology in questioning the reality of experience, indicating that asking for proof beyond personal experience is like requesting an experience that isn't an experience. Realness and Unreality Buttons: Utilizing an analogy of hypothetical buttons that trigger certain experiences or realizations, Leo illustrates the problem of distinguishing between perceptions of reality and unreality, emphasizing the subjective nature of experience. Neuromodulators and Transcendence: Leo discusses how future brain imaging and neurochemistry might interpret transcendent experiences, like God realization, as biological events, and questions the validity of such materialistic reductions. Confusion between concept and reality: Leo points out that while symbols and words, like 'duck,' help us conceptualize reality, they are not reality itself. He criticizes mathematician Max Tegmark's view that the universe is fundamentally mathematical, arguing that while mathematics can describe reality, it is not synonymous with being. Projection of belief onto reality: Leo suggests that people see reality through the lens of their beliefs, much like how a Christian might perceive Christ in everyday objects. He connects this to the idea that an individual's experience of reality, whether atheist, materialist, or spiritual, is unique and deeply influenced by their belief systems. Existence of God as a matter of perspective: Leo argues that for an atheist, God does not exist; however, this is simply what God듪r infinite consciousness들s imagining for that person. He suggests that one's belief about material reality is a temporary state and that experiences, like those induced by psychedelics, can shift these beliefs. Subjectivity and variety in beliefs: Gura discusses the diversity of sincere beliefs held by people throughout history and questions why intelligent individuals, such as Isaac Newton, believed in God. He attributes this not to a lack of intelligence but to the sincerity and depth of their personal reality. Finite conception of free will: Leo views the ego as a finite state of consciousness that believes it controls reality, a necessary illusion for survival. He differentiates 'will,' which exists in humans in limited form, from 'infinite will,' the latter of which he aligns with God and its materials manifestations. Challenge of future prediction: When discussing consciousness at the highest levels, Leo explains that the concepts of a predictable future and material reality dissolve, complicating notions of prediction and verification of truth. Limitations and possibilities of mystical abilities: Leo acknowledges his ongoing exploration of consciousness and considers the potential future development of abilities like clairvoyance, despite not currently claiming them. Trade-off between absolute consciousness and finite details: Gura describes a trade-off when accessing higher states of consciousness, where one gains a view of totality at the expense of losing sight of detailed aspects of the earthly domain. Acknowledgment of personal self-deception: Despite his insights into infinite consciousness, Leo admits to being susceptible to self-deception in the relative, material world and recognizes the need to update his beliefs when proven otherwise. Leo's skepticism and humility: While having strong convictions, Leo expresses skepticism about his worldview, showing a level of humility that humanizes his assertions about consciousness and God. Experience with Paranormal Healing: Leo sought non-traditional healing for his persistent stomach issues, consulting with healers and fortune tellers from a variety of backgrounds. Skepticism and Desperation: Despite his skepticism, health problems led Leo to consult various paranormal practitioners, revealing the impact of desperation on openness to alternative methods. Testing Paranormal Claims: Leo devised a strategy to test the reliability of different healers' insights by comparing their independent diagnoses of his health issue. Inconclusive Results and Self-deception: The conflicting diagnoses from paranormal healers led Leo to a deeper understanding of self-deception and reinforced his skepticism. Discrepancy in Paranormal Healing Experiences: Leo observed that different healers, despite their sincerity, provided dissimilar explanations for his condition, which did not lead to lasting relief. Personal Bubbles of Reality: Leo's worldviews suggest that individuals live within their own subjective reality bubbles, which may intersect but are not entirely aligned with those of others. Relativity of Delusion: Delusional experiences can be real for the person experiencing them, due to the flexible boundary between dreams and physical reality as seen through psychedelic experiences. Skepticism's Limitations: Leo discusses how excessive skepticism can block the acknowledgement of certain experiences or phenomena, such as the ability to read, and equates ultimate skepticism with the ability to doubt any aspect of reality. Denial of consciousness: Gura argues that atheists may be denying their own consciousness by rejecting or hating existence, equating atheism to a denial of oneself as God. Evil's relationship with existence and consciousness: Leo converses about the idea that evil is tied to acts against existence and consciousness, emphasizing that evil is a form of selfishness arising from a lack of consciousness. Understanding evil through consciousness: He asserts that a lower level of consciousness is associated with deriving pleasure from suffering, and uses examples from cruel behavior and political schadenfreude to illustrate different consciousness levels. Political consciousness and bias: Discussing political bias, Leo shares his observation that both sides of the political spectrum can exhibit tribalism, but notes a specific unwillingness by some to acknowledge any positive actions from opposing figures like Trump. Criticism of Sam Harris's 'Moral Landscape': Leo criticizes Harris's concept of objective morality and suggests that relative human concepts of good are tied to egoistic perspectives and can't define what is good for humanity as a whole. Sam Harris's level of awakening: Gura questions the depth of Sam Harris's understanding of no-self and awakening, indicating Harris lacks realization of higher states of consciousness and God-realization. Sam Harris's limited psychedelic experiences: Leo suggests that Harris has not deeply experimented with psychedelics and is restricted by materialistic and intellectual attachments. Ideological entrenchment limiting psychedelic insights: Gura explains how entrenched worldviews can prevent psychedelics from significantly expanding one's consciousness, requiring an open mind and dealing with psychological baggage for deeper realizations. Individual variability in psychedelic experiences: Psychedelic experiences differ greatly among people due to unique psychological baggage, trauma, and personal openness, which can influence the nature and intensity of their trips. Personal anecdote on psychedelic experience: Matthew shares his own encounter with psychedelics, which challenged his understanding of consciousness but not his atheism, and contrasts this with a friend who had no profound insights even at higher doses, highlighting the role of one's mindset and openness in determining the impact of psychedelics. Impact of philosophical curiosity: Leo emphasizes that an individual's interest in understanding existence profoundly influences their responses to psychedelics; those genuinely curious about metaphysical topics may have more significant revelations than those who are indifferent. Diverse responses to psychedelics: People react differently to the same doses of psychedelics due to varying physiological sensitivities. Leo notes personal sensitivity and how some individuals can handle larger doses without significant effects. Different aims with psychedelics: While some people are mainly interested in visual effects, Leo seeks insights and understanding, explaining that even low doses can lead him to experiences of infinite consciousness, sometimes with overwhelming bliss. Guidance for avoiding negative trip outcomes: Leo advises cautious dosing and respect for psychedelics. He criticizes the notion of "heroic doses," noting that overconfidence can lead to adverse effects, including egotistical rebound post-trip. Mental stability and personal history: Leo attributes his psychological resilience to a relatively positive upbringing, advising those with challenging pasts or mental health issues to be careful with psychedelics and to lay a foundational self-help groundwork first. Nuanced views on God realization and awakening: Leo distinguishes between accessing infinite truth and fully embodying it, admitting his own ongoing work in integrating the absolute with the relative and that spiritual teachers can have personal flaws despite deep insights. Insecurities and authenticity: Despite projecting wisdom, Leo acknowledges his own egoic tendencies and the complexities of living up to spiritual insights, indicating that genuine self-reflection and vulnerability are part of his journey. Self-improvement and accessing truth: Accessing infinite truth doesn't automatically resolve personal issues like addictions or conflicts; the mind's structure with its attachments, biases, and beliefs remains largely intact. Deconstruction of the mind continues even after accessing infinity. Attachment and life goals: Whether to eliminate attachment hinges on individual life goals. Removing attachments can increase one's capacity for love, as love is characterized by a lack of bias and attachment inherently introduces suffering. Impermanence and suffering: All attachments are temporary due to the principle of impermanence, which states that all forms in the universe cannot remain constant. Attachment to any form, tangible or conceptual, guarantees future loss and subsequent suffering. Attachment weighing happiness against suffering: While attachments may bring happiness, they also ensure future suffering when they end. This is likened to taking a loan of happiness that must be paid back with suffering when the attachment is lost. Thomas Campbell's astral perspective: Leo aligns with Campbell on the idea that consciousness and love are fundamental but disputes Campbell's view on the finite nature of reality and the idea that time and units of reality are fundamental. Learning from Campbell's dream analysis: Leo appreciates Campbell's insights on how recurring dreams can reveal unresolved traumas and psychic baggage and can be used for self-therapy to integrate these lessons and cease recurring dreams. Bernardo Kastrup's agreement and critique: Leo concurs with Kastrup's arguments against materialism but contends that Kastrup hasn't fully realized that he is God imagining all existence. Kastrup's rejection of solipsism and his concept of a dissociative boundary between consciousnesses are areas of discord. Understanding Infinity through division: Reality is viewed as capable of infinite division, with no foundational unit. Infinity allows for continuous fractal division, debunking the notion of a limit within reality such as the Planck length. Attachment to ideas and beliefs: Even being attached to seemingly positive ideas, like the concept of God, can lead to suffering due to the impermanent nature of all attachments and forms. Infinite probe of consciousness: Consciousness is not limited by conceptual structures like the Planck length; it has the potential to delve infinitely within or beyond, exploring realms beyond current scientific understanding. Divergence from Frank Yang: Leo is familiar with Frank Yang but has limited knowledge of his worldview. He acknowledges Yang's critique of psychedelics and preference for enlightenment through meditation, notably the Buddhist concept of cessation. Cessation and temporality: The state of cessation is described as the universe ceasing to exist, then rebooting드n atemporal state adjacent to our temporal reality. Leo views this abrupt transition akin to a computer restart, bridging eternity and the observable world. Equality of conscious states: Leo does not single out cessation as a superior state, considering all states of consciousness equal듡orm, formlessness, or cessation. Reintegrating form and formlessness: The spiritual path typically progresses from realizing no-self to formlessness, and eventually to recognizing form as nothingness. True non-duality emerges when all states, including the material, are seen as manifestations of the absolute. Dogmatism in non-dualist communities: Leo observes a tendency among early non-dualist students to recite beliefs about non-duality and infinity as truths, possibly fooling themselves about the extent of their awakening due to the radical nature of initial realizations. Spiritual defensiveness and compassion: Commenting on the spiritual community's defensive stance towards science, Leo admits his own past lack of compassion towards figures like Richard Dawkins, recognizing now that all opposition stems from ignorance. Awakening's selectivity and attachments: Leo stresses that awakening is radical and not suitable for everyone. He suggests not trying to force it upon unwilling individuals and emphasizes managing attachments responsibly rather than completely detaching. Persona adoption in spiritual communities: Leo notes an affected happiness among some followers in the spiritual community, potentially signifying inauthentic behavior. He admits to enhancing excitement in his videos for engagement but questions whether he should credit his audience with greater understanding of complex topics. Cessation visualization: Leo imagines cessation as a nonsequential reemergence of consciousness rather than a gradual return, accentuating the dissonance between atemporal and temporal states and their inexplicable coexistence. Conceptual non-duality vs. actual experiences of awakening: Leo differentiates between intellectually accepted ideas of non-duality and the actual expansive experiences of awakening, noting that each state of consciousness, including cessation, is equally an expression of the absolute. Perceived dogmatism in the pursuit of inner peace: Leo addresses apparent dogmatic repetition within non-dualist communities, recognizing it as potentially misleading and a form of self-deception. Authenticity and truth realizations: Despite noting superficiality in some spiritual practitioners, Leo champions true non-dual teachers for their authenticity, which he attributes to their pursuit of truth. Assumptions about the audience's intelligence: Leo sometimes underestimates his audience's intelligence, assuming they won't grasp complex ideas. He acknowledges this may not give them enough credit for their understanding. Steel manning vs. straw man arguments: While Leo tries to make debates humorous by considering absurd objections, he believes he could benefit from taking a more rigorous steel man approach to strengthen his arguments rather than ridiculing counterpoints. Precision in pursuit of truth: Emphasizes precision and stretching analogies to their limits as means to gain insight and understands truth, suggesting traditional media may underestimate the audience's capacity to grasp complex concepts. Free will and God's identity: Leo engages with a complex dialogue about free will and identity with God, discussing how finite minds grapple with infinite concepts, leading to paradoxes and the eventual realization that one is fully divine. Realization of God's nature: Leo's personal journey reflects a gradual realization from recognizing God as external, to questioning God's nature, to ultimately recognizing oneself as God, which comes with immense humility and selflessness. Understanding God as infinite love: The realization of God's true identity as an act of infinite love is described as transformative and life-changing, leading to the understanding of why everything exists as it does. Acceptance of ultimate reality: Leo shares the view that recognizing oneself as God results in the understanding that the physical universe would cease to exist from his perspective because all perspectives are ultimately imagined within one's own consciousness. Problem of solipsism in understanding unity: Solipsism is critiqued as not being radical enough; the ultimate truth is realizing a unique type of unity where one is not alone because of separateness but because everything merges into a singular consciousness. Finality of realizing ultimate truth: God realization is so intense that if fully accepted, it would mean the dissolution of the universe, highlighting the notion that true awareness can obliterate finite constructs. Discussion on finite perspectives: A conversation unfolds about the seeming paradox of other perspectives ending if one individual reaches the ultimate realization of God, leading to the idea that, at the highest level of understanding, no other separate perspectives actually exist. Convergence of Conscious Perspectives: As consciousness rises, distinctions between selves, objects, and concepts dissolve, leading to a convergence or "coning" effect where all become one. This realization of oneness is likened to the deepest physical and emotional fusion between beings, transcending individuality into eternal, undifferentiated unity. Definition of God Realization: Leo defines God realization as a state beyond simply experiencing nothingness or physical objects; it is conscious self-creation, where individuals are aware they are imaginatively composing all of reality, including their own bodies. This state transcends all limitations, constantly self-creates, and embodies infinite creativity, and is appropriately termed "God." Critique of Spiral Dynamics: Leo critiques the hierarchical nature of spiral dynamics, suggesting it fails to represent the highest states of consciousness where hierarchies become meaningless, and direct experience does not rely on ranked stages or development directions. Impermanence Paradox: Addressing the paradox of permanence in impermanence, Leo states that at basic levels of consciousness, impermanence is evident, but at the highest levels, one might view everything, including love, as eternally existing, eluding the notion of impermanence. Free Will as a Fragment of Divine Will: He argues free will is inherited from God's self-determined nature, allowing humans to create and influence their world in a finite manner, experiencing the divine act of creation to various degrees. God as Creator and Destroyer: Both creation and destruction are integral aspects of God, yet intuitively, God is more akin to a creator, even though destruction is necessary for new creation. Life's intention is framed as facilitating more life rather than death, with life perpetually supported by death in a never-ending cycle. Intentions and Perceived Good: Every action, even seemingly negative ones, is considered good, with figures like Hitler believing they were doing the greatest good from their perspective. Leo elaborates on how lower states of consciousness can corrupt the perception of what is good, while higher states embrace a purer, selfless understanding. Hate as Distorted Love: The concept of hate is discussed as a manifestation of insufficient love, with individuals expressing hate as a means to cope with their own lack of love and striving to eliminate what they perceive as evil, which ironically can create more evil. Audience Participation and App Introduction: Audience questions are anticipated and Matthew introduces the Transcend app, emphasizing the uniqueness in purpose compared to common social platforms, prioritizing privacy and meaningful interaction over superficial connectivity. Twisted nature of hate: Hate is a contorted form of love that stems from loving something else in opposition to the thing one hates, as was the case with Hitler hating Jews due to his intense love for the purity of Germany. Hatred as a response to insufficient love: People become hateful primarily because they were denied proper love, often leading them to reject love towards others out of a sense of deprivation or as a reactionary mechanism. Origins of evil and division: The original act of partitioning infinite love, which could be seen as the first form of evil, occurred when God divided itself to share love with others, making any finite form inherently less than everything. Removal of moral judgment and free will: In Leo's model, moral judgment is removed. Without free will, there's no basis for worst or evil since everything, even divisions, is part of absolute perfection as expressions of infinite love or perfection. Concept of Absolute Good: Gura suggests that everyone acts from a stance of absolute good; when fully awakened, one perceives everything and everyone as fundamentally good, challenging conventional definitions of good and evil. Logic's limitations in reaching the Absolute: Logic, being finite, cannot arrive at an absolute understanding; it's only applicable after directly experiencing the absolute, which is beyond logic's capabilities. Matthew Phillips and the Transcend app: Matthew Phillips introduces the Transcend app, inspired by his life experiences and near-death realization about the importance of legacy. The app is designed to document and pass on one's personal legacy and preserves users' privacy and data ownership with insight prompts to encourage meaningful entries. Origins of Transcend: The idea for the Transcend app was inspired by Leo Gura's approach to sharing wisdom through videos, contemplating how to document important life lessons. Documenting Personal Legacy: Transcend is designed as a private platform for individuals to document and pass on their personal experiences, beliefs, and wisdom, contrasting with the transient and public nature of traditional social media. Privacy and Data Ownership: A key feature of Transcend is its commitment to user privacy. It operates on a subscription model, ensuring users have full ownership of their data, with the app serving as a secure repository for a personal legacy. Transcend's User Experience: Users are guided to annotate their content, explaining its significance and setting permissions for who can access it. The app currently focuses on intuitive use but plans to evolve into immersive and interactive experiences. Intelligence and Personal Relevance of Content: Transcend differentiates itself by prioritizing the quality and personal relevance of content over traditional metadata used by other platforms, aiming to present memories and moments to the right person at the right time. Tools for Connection: The app includes prompts and tools designed to facilitate deeper connections and meaningful interactions between users and their loved ones, adapting to various situations and relationships. Furnunculus

Yep, couldn't agree more. A lot of users here have picked up a very clear bias against logic and against relative domain stuff from Leo. They haven't integrated logic, they have a logic shadow. We can discuss the limits of logic and the limits of relative domain things, but the unfortunate fact of the matter is that most people here (im confident including Leo) don't understand properly how basic formal logic works, let alone trying to question the laws of logic and trying to understand what that entails and what possible implications that can bring. After some awakening experiences and or enlightenment most of them thinks they can have an authority to speak on any subject, without studying or deeply contemplating that specific subject beforehand. The inferences that one can make from the knowledge of one subject can only go so far and has very clear limits when it comes to using that knowledge and making inferences about another subject. So far, based on all the guys I know who claimed to be awakened and or enlightened none of them managed to infer or come to all the scientific knowledge that we know - using enlightenment or awakening alone. So it seems that cross domain induction and inference making is very limited and we should have much much more epistemic humility when it comes to using the knowledge of one domain to make knowledge claims about another domain. The other thing is that this community loves to ramble a lot, rather than trying to engage with points or try to directly answer questions.

This is not the cause of my perfectionism; it's one of the manifestations. My perfectionism operates on a different level because it's all-encompassing. Most perfectionists have very limited scopes for their perfectionism; only in directing a movie, performing a musical concert, washing hands after touching a public door, writing a book, recording a video, etc. In my case, I'm a perfectionist in almost all domains and aspects of life. Yes, it's natural and instinctive for me to see defects or faults in everything. I easily identify what can be improved, and many times I feel a burning desire to accomplish that improvement or perfection. In my 'Perfectionism is Wrong and Cruel' thread, I explained why it is the case. But I feel the need to emphasize that perfectionism is also a very beautiful thing. It's crazy because they're all true, though seemingly contradictory. I'll share a real story: My parents, especially my father, are two of the most ignorant and egotistical humans ever. When I was a kid, I used to point out their humanshit (bullshit). There was a time when my father became extremely angry with me; he threw a dustpan and stones at me with a very harmful intention. When my right arm got hit a few times, the skin peeled off a bit, revealing the meat and blood underneath. I became traumatized as fuck! It's distressing for an adult to experience such shit, let alone for a very young boy. I tend to detect faults in various forms and feel compelled to correct them. This has resulted in me being antagonized by my coworkers when I corrected their work or behavior. In my 20s, I always wondered why humans feel offended when their shortcomings or humanshit are pointed out or when they are shown a better way to do things. In my case, I feel grateful when somebody shows me a better way to do things. Why not? I just learned a better way. It's only in my 30s when I finally understood why, and I felt very disappointed. I lost respect for normal humans, and I'm not interested in them. But, I still treat them well, not because they're good and respectable (they're full of humanshit), but because I'm good. That might sound pretentious or egotistical for me to say, but it is the case, and hence, I must say it. My perfectionism has influenced my parents to become better humans, especially my mother. I never stopped pointing out their humanshit and showed them a better way to do things. I explained to my mother that the harmful and twisted ways they inflicted on me, especially when I was a young boy, caused extreme anxiety, depression, anger, and self-murder thoughts. I clarified that they needed to change their ways, or I would completely cut them off. Indeed, I did cut them off from my life a few times because they were unable to change. My perfectionism made it a clean break, with zero communication for years. But after many years, a miracle happened. My mother changed her behavior. For the first time ever, she confessed how ignorant and foolish she had been as a mother and asked for an apology. I began to notice her increased self-awareness. She also learned how to become a loving mother, and right now, I can even say she's one of the most loving mothers in the world. When I say it's a big miracle, it's not an exaggeration. It's accurate. My father was a hopeless case, unfortunately. But at least he learned to properly behave in my presence. He knew I would inflict physical and mental-emotional pain on him if he displayed his twisted ways. He learned this via direct experience. In the last few weeks of his life, I was surprised he became an "angel". I couldn't believe my eyes. I took care of him when he was sick and dying. I was able to do it because of years of strict and "perfect" self-therapy, enabling me to forgive him for his big sins. So, perhaps, my perfectionism changed him, though it was too late. I've just demonstrated a few ways perfectionism can make things better and create beautiful results. In fact, my own self-transformation is a result of my perfectionism. That's why it's very difficult and even feels impossible for me to release. But as the old saying goes, 'What gets you here doesn't necessarily get you there.' It's time for me to transcend perfectionism. Much easier said than done, but it must be done; hence I'll go for it. I awakened to no-self many years ago. But that was a different version of the no-self awakening being talked about in this forum. But I want to say you can't live a very good life via wearing a no-self lens all the time. It's useful for some situations. But in most situations, embracing, loving, and transcending yourself (the ego) accomplishes better results, materially and even spiritually. I'm busy as fuck, girl. I'm not supposed to spend time replying to my threads. But there's some sense in your post and I appreciate the effort; I feel compelled to reply to you. So, Arabic is a strong contender for the craziest language in the world? But I've heard Arabic is known for its accuracy and consistency. If that's true, then English still holds the throne.

Explaining Take-Down & New Awakening https://actualized.org/insights/explaining-take-down-new-awakening Video Removal Explanation: Leo took down the solipsism video because it directly confronted viewers with a sensitive topic, potentially leading them to dangerous psychological states. He desired to prevent misinformation and the harmful impact that could arise from the content's direct approach. New Level of Awakening: Leo has reached a new level of awakening that will change the way he teaches and lives his life, which might discomfort or anger followers unprepared for the radical shift in his teachings. Challenges of Safe Spiritual Teaching: Leo acknowledges the difficulty in effectively teaching profound spiritual truths safely and responsibly, especially online where it's hard to filter who is ready for such information. The episode's takedown was fuelled by his responsibility toward the psychological well-being of viewers. Appreciation of Illusion: Post-awakening, Leo recognizes the purpose of life's illusion and revises his approach on deconstructing it for others, likening the revelation of too much truth to spoiling a great movie's plot twist for someone who hasn't seen it. Impact of Solipsism Video: A viewer's message prompted Leo to reconsider the direction of his teachings. She expressed discomfort from the solipsism concept, feeling lost and yearning to return to normalcy, highlighting the real emotional consequences of awakening topics. Struggle with Deep Awakenings: Leo reflects on the personal challenges and responsibilities that come with profound awakenings, aware that not everyone will understand or withstand the immense truth and insight revealed about reality. Responsibility of Teaching: Despite being fully awake and seeing reality as an illusion, Leo remains concerned about teaching responsibly to avoid causing unnecessary psychological turmoil for his students or society at large. He strives to balance teaching deep truths with ensuring they don't harmfully disrupt the collective dream. Responsibility of Spiritual Teaching: Leo reflects on his responsibility as a spiritual teacher to convey insightful but potentially life-altering information responsibly. He acknowledges his long-term dedication to understanding reality since he was young and is aware of the diverse and often challenging backgrounds of his audience. Leo considers the impact of deeper teachings on individuals who may not yet have a stable foundation in their personal lives. Sharing Depth of Insights: Addressing feelings of betrayal expressed by some followers, Leo clarifies that he is seeking better ways to share his deepest insights without distortion. He explains that conveying truth through words inevitably corrupts it and stresses the importance of personal discovery over receiving direct answers from a teacher. Avoiding Harmful Misinterpretations: Leo emphasizes the difference between imparting information that can be used to foster spiritual growth and sharing sensitive topics like solipsism, which can be too direct for newcomers and could mentally corrupt them. He expresses concern that spiritual concepts, particularly solipsism, could be misused to justify narcissistic or destructive behavior, which is contrary to the purpose of awakening. Attachment to Teachings: He critiques the over-attachment some have to his videos and teachings, underlining the aim of his work is to guide viewers toward independence and self-generated understanding, ultimately leading them to transcend Actualized.org as they deconstruct their own beliefs. He urges viewers to not rely too heavily on his content or any external spiritual authority. Role of Actualized.org and Leo's Teachings: Leo explains that his role is to inspire and motivate seekers to explore their spiritual journey rather than just provide answers. He compares it to encouraging someone to travel to Africa and explore its richness firsthand, pointing out both the amazing experiences and the potential dangers encountered along the way. Deeper Awakening: Leo recounts an even deeper awakening experience where he realized he is the only conscious entity, with everything and everyone else-including spiritual teachers and their teachings-being his imagination. This awakening has led to profound happiness and a sense of eternal solitude. Teaching Approach Post-Awakening: Despite realizing the ultimate truth of being the sole awakened entity with everything else being an illusion, Leo paradoxically continues to feel compelled to teach. He plans to make his teachings sharper and clearer, and focus on communicating the direct path to the awakening he has experienced. Hard Stance on Awakening and Teaching: Leo asserts that most spiritual practices, including meditation, yoga, and following gurus, do not lead to true awakening. He will take a hard stance that real awakening is realizing oneself to be God and consciously creating reality. He acknowledges that this viewpoint will likely be met with objections and controversies. Criticism and Misinterpretation: Leo anticipates criticism, accusations of narcissism, and misunderstandings about his radical awakening claims. He understands that people will argue and doubt his teachings and even question his mental state. However, he affirms that he speaks from a place of truth, not ego, and embraces being the only awakened one. Authentic Awakening Defined: Leo explains that true awakening is not about stopping the mind or ending suffering; it's about realizing oneself as God and being consciously aware of creating the entirety of one's existence. Real awakening requires deep comprehension and the consciousness of self-deception. Shifts in Actualized.org Future Content: Leo's future content will focus on the highest levels of awakening, likely frustrating those attached to traditional spiritual practices, teachings, and authority figures. He reiterates the importance of understanding relative awakenings and personal experiences. Anticipated Backlash from Teachings: Leo foresees that his new stance on awakening will lead many to argue, criticize, and eventually leave his teachings, accusing him of narcissism and delusion. He emphasizes that he will no longer teach using traditional methods and will tell people they're not truly awake, contrary to their own beliefs. Teaching Paradox: Despite realizing there's no one to teach since only he can awaken, Leo feels paradoxically compelled to continue teaching. He views all actions as imaginary and meaningless, choosing to play the 'teacher game' for his amusement while basking in the happiness of his awakening. Development of a New Course: Leo plans to create an online course detailing his method to the highest level of awakening, excluding traditional practices like meditation or yoga. He aims to price the course steeply to filter out casual learners, though he admits it's not foolproof and might lead to serious adverse effects for participants. Continuation of Main Channel Content: Leo reassures that alongside his new course, his main channel will continue to release profound insights for those not interested in the ultimate awakening. He advises those who disagree with his approach to pursue spirituality in their preferred manner, without wasting time disputing his teachings. Critique of Other Spiritual Teachers: While Leo admits to criticizing other spiritual teachers, it's mainly to help viewers avoid being misled by teachings he considers limited. He emphasizes that arguing or debating about spirituality doesn't lead to awakening, urging followers to instead focus on their own spiritual pursuits. Spiritual Debate Futility: Engaging in spiritual debates is a waste of time and a trap that hinders awakening; such debates entrench participants in ego, leading to negativity and moving them away from the essence of spiritual understanding. Inevitable Evolution of Actualized.org: Leo anticipates changes in his teachings that may not resonate with all, resulting from his evolving levels of consciousness and development. He acknowledges these changes are necessary for the path of truth he follows, despite potential departures of longtime followers. Awakening's Intrinsic Beauty: The beauty of true awakening is immense and incomparable; Leo argues that it makes all concerns, from suffering to debates and material desires, irrelevant in the face of the profound experience of being God, which he considers the ultimate pursuit of life. Aspiration to Understand Reality: Those who truly wish to awaken must prioritize understanding reality over all else, which is essential to navigate the journey faithfully and avoid half-baked awakenings that may lead to negative outcomes. Course Development for Deepest Awakening: Leo proposes creating a course for those seriously seeking the highest awakening. It will detail the methods leading to his awakenings and will address emotional challenges faced along the way. Future Acknowledgement and Commitment: While Leo has achieved a significant level of awakening, he admits not knowing what the future holds for him or his work. He expects further personal growth and discoveries, and remains open to adjustments and learning from potential errors. Actualized.org's Core Mission: Leo reiterates that the essence of Actualized.org has always been his personal journey toward becoming the most conscious entity, intending to share insights and aid others' understanding. Despite reaching profound happiness, he acknowledges the solitary nature of awakening and the impossibility of sharing it with anyone but himself. Journey of Awakening: Leo emphasizes that his path to awakening was not easy or effortless, involving various challenges and emotional hardships, contrasting the perceived ease viewers might assume from his current insights and content. Crucio

What It's Like To Smoke Salvia Divinorum https://www.actualized.org/insights/what-its-like-to-smoke-salvia Preparation and disclaimer for salvia use: With extensive personal experience in psychedelics, Leo tried a small dose of salvia divinorum, emphasizing the disorienting potency and danger of the substance. Salvia can completely replace one's sense of reality with another, triggering dangerous reactions without any recollection of taking a drug. Leo insists on the importance of a trip sitter and advises against use by inexperienced individuals or without supervision due to the potential for harm. Unique dissociative effects of salvia: Unlike other psychedelics that may result in ego death while retaining some biographical memory, salvia can disrupt the entire stream of consciousness, leading to a complete loss of identity and context. Leo's left side of the visual field and cognitive perception became consumed by what he describes as a "roiling infinity," an experience of pure infinite potential that was highly dissociative and unfamiliar when compared to other psychedelic experiences like 5-MeO-DMT 'God Mode'. Dangers of loss of self and reality: The visual and self-perception effects induced by salvia triggered a sense of panic and terror in Leo, who managed to remain relatively grounded thanks to an unaffected right side. This asymmetric impact on consciousness raised concerns about the potential for complete detachment from reality and the need for careful monitoring during the experience. Depth of psychedelic experiences: Salvia unveiled an even deeper layer of consciousness that traditional psychedelics hadn't reached, opening a new, alien and strange dimension that extends beyond the more predictable experiences of other substances. Multiple uses of salvia highlighted how each trip can uniquely affect consciousness in unpredictable ways. Ego loss and memory: Beyond the transformation of the concept of death, salvia experiences led to a deeper understanding of ego loss-challenging the idea of being selfless. A complete loss of self would mean not even knowing basic biographical information, a state that could potentially disorient even those who are spiritually advanced and are supposedly beyond ego. Misconceptions about mental health: Leo's trips deepened his empathy for mental health challenges. He discusses how easily the brain can tip into a state of disorder, debunking the dismissive attitudes towards mental illness and urging greater compassion and understanding. Complexity of consciousness work: Spiritual practice is misrepresented as a linear journey by many teachers. They often lack comprehension of the multi-dimensional aspects of the journey, which can include experiences misinterpreted as mental disorders. Salvia experiences reinforce the view that spiritual work has far more dimensions than commonly portrayed. Human dependency on a stable consciousness: The stability of consciousness is vital for everyday human function and survival. The difficulty in transcending this stability underscores both its necessity for living and the challenges of achieving spiritual awakening. The rigid nature of consciousness is both a constraint and a life-preserving mechanism. Reliance on Consistent Consciousness: Our survival deeply depends on a stable consciousness and a consistent sense of self and memory. Losing these can disconnect us from reality with dangerous consequences; it underlines the paradox of survival and awakening where one cannot simply forsake survival to achieve an awakened state. Approach to Psychedelic Experimentation: A cautious and respectful approach is highlighted for exploring psychedelics like salvia. Initial small doses are recommended to gauge sensitivity; a breakthrough dose could result in completely leaving material reality, which may be traumatic and lead to a rejection of future psychedelic use. Individual Sensitivity Variations: Sensitivity to psychedelics significantly varies across individuals, making it crucial to personalize dosages through trial and experience. Leo acknowledges being particularly sensitive, experiencing profound effects at lower doses than an average person. Potential Realities Induced by Salvia: Salvia can induce experiences that are completely detached from recognizable reality, transforming a person's sense of identity into inanimate or conceptual entities, such as becoming 'one' with a Ferris wheel, or entering chaotic and nonsensical dimensions. Caution and Respect for Psychedelics: Treating psychedelics with the same caution as handling dangerous tools is advised, given their potential to radically alter consciousness. Careful research and the use of a trip sitter are emphasized to mitigate the risks associated with psychedelic experiences. Recommendation Against Casual Use of Salvia: The intense and unpredictable nature of salvia is stressed, with a discouragement from its use for most people. It is suggested that salvia is more suited to highly experienced psychonauts and even then, only with the presence of a trip sitter and a high degree of caution. Crucio

Explaining God For Dummies https://www.actualized.org/insights/explaining-god-for-dummies Polarizing reactions to awakening content: Leo notices that his total awakening live video has generated various reactions, revealing the video's polarizing effect. He expresses no interest in defending himself against judgmental comments, instead addressing serious practitioners regarding the true nature of awakening. Awakening misconception due to serene gurus: He critiques the misleading calmness portrayed by spiritual gurus, which contrasts sharply with the chaotic reality of a fresh awakening experience. Leo explains that this calm appearance results from decades of post-awakening integration and mastery, not the initial tumultuous journey. Contrasting the mythologized and historical Jesus: Leo examines the idealized versus the historical Jesus, showing discrepancies that challenge common beliefs about enlightened beings. He highlights that the historical Jesus displayed strong emotions, countering the expectation that awakened individuals must conform to peaceful ideals. Raw emotions in awakening: Leo emphasizes the importance of passion and a full emotional range during awakening, contradicting the notion that these are egoic traits. He argues that awakening intensifies emotions rather than suppresses them, illustrating that genuine passion is integral to the process. Heightened consciousness during awakening: Addressing misconceptions, Leo explains that during the pinnacle of awakening, trivial matters are insignificant due to the universal scope of the consciousness experienced, regardless of societal expectations or norms. Navigating judgment post-awakening: Leo addresses the scrutiny and negativity one may face from others after awakening, including accusations of selfishness or insanity. He notes the importance of perseverance and the courage to face and integrate these challenges. Reality of spiritual work: He shares selective raw clips to give a more accurate representation of spiritual work, acknowledging that most of his experiences go unseen. Leo encourages letting go of illusory ideas about awakening and God. Critiquing religious moralization: Leo criticizes the cherry-picking of virtuous actions by religious standards, asserting that such moralization constricts the understanding of God and awakening. He refutes the expectation of perpetual silence or selflessness as misunderstandings of the awakened state. Sharing the awakening experience: Leo justifies sharing his awakening moments as expressions of divine love, not narcissism. He argues that an awakened individual seeks to share their profound realizations out of an innate desire to impart the beauty and amazement of their experience. Variability in awakening experiences: Leo conveys that awakenings can range from highly ecstatic and passionate to being very silent and somber, emphasizing that there are many expressive possibilities within awakenings, not just overwhelmingly positive ones. Infinity and transcendence in awakening: Leo describes an awakening experience where he transcended all known concepts, such as life and death, entering states of consciousness that defy traditional understanding and categories, leading to an indescribable void of pure consciousness. Differentiating spiritual work from mental health issues: Leo clarifies the difference between the transformative fallout of awakening and mental health disorders, asserting the importance of distinguishing between them and seeking appropriate help if needed. Embracing individual spiritual paths: Encouraging viewers to honor their unique spiritual journey, Leo highlights that an individual's path should not merely mimic others and acknowledges his role in pioneering new ways of accessing and understanding the divine. Amortentia

Miracle Awakening https://www.actualized.org/insights/miracle-awakening Consciousness as the ultimate miracle: Leo experiences a profound awakening where he recognizes consciousness as the ultimate miracle. He reframes our understanding of miracles as phenomena that transcend physics and presents consciousness as the singular infinite entity that composes existence. Self-awareness of consciousness: Leo illuminates the self-aware nature of consciousness, defining it as a miraculous property. He emphasizes that consciousness' ability to know itself is both mystical and fundamental. Oneness and its properties: Through deeper contemplation, Leo unveils the concept of oneness associated with consciousness. He attributes intelligence, love, self-awareness, and the absence of limitations to oneness, reinforcing the idea that all existence is part of this infinite and eternal oneness. Existence as an act of divine love: Leo proposes that recognizing the miracle of existence is tantamount to divine love, as consciousness in its fully self-aware state-God consciousness-embraces the miraculous nature and infinite possibilities of its being. Awareness and the recognition of existence as a miracle: He encourages contemplation on the nature of existence and consciousness, arguing for a shift in awareness towards recognizing existence as a perpetual miracle and advocating for an internal exploration of this awareness. Rediscovery of existential mystery: Leo suggests reconnecting with the mystery of existence by recalling the naive wonder of early life and contrasting it with learned concepts, urging a contemplative return to that state of profound existential curiosity. Imagination and creation by consciousness: Discussing the creative power of consciousness, Leo illustrates how reality is configured by consciousness as it imagines various properties and elements, whether physical or abstract. Nature of physical reality as an imaginative construct: He posits that our perception of physical reality is a solidified construct of the mind, a necessary stabilization for functional existence that can shift to reveal different realities under certain states of consciousness. The limitations of science in explaining miracles: Leo argues that science, being an instance of existence, is incapable of explaining the fundamental miracle of existence itself, asserting the necessity of direct experiential awakening for such understanding. Escaping karma through consciousness: Describing a dive into the Godhead, Leo outlines how recognizing life experiences and genetics as illusions within the mind allows one to release accumulated karma through pure consciousness. Purification by infinite consciousness: Entering a state of pure white light, consciousness provides a sense of death and healing, erasing karma and self-imposed limitations, reconnecting with one's selfless true nature. Transformation through pure consciousness: He describes extensive immersion in the singularity of consciousness as the key to transforming and purifying one's being, a process requiring consistent and sustained dedication. Psychedelics as a tool for awakening: Leo endorses psychedelics as a potent means to achieve higher consciousness and expedite spiritual journeys that might otherwise require decades of traditional practices. Self-reliance in spiritual growth: Achieving higher consciousness, Leo has come to reject external spiritual teachings, advocating for direct personal experience as the foundation of spiritual growth. Limitations of spiritual teachings: Leo criticizes the spiritual community for creating a false perception that deep awakenings are accessible to all, when in reality, they may be restricted to those with specific neurological or genetic predispositions. Role of psychedelics: He underscores the crucial role of psychedelics in making profound states of consciousness accessible to the wider population, a capacity that he deems as largely unrecognized or dismissed by traditional spiritual leaders. Professional dishonesty: Leo accuses many in the spiritual industry of professional dishonesty by undervaluing psychedelics and misrepresenting the accessibility of deep spiritual experiences. Psychedelics' impact on spiritual industry: Leo posits that widespread access to psychedelics would revolutionize the spiritual landscape by reducing the need for traditional gurus and retreats, empowering individuals through direct experiences. Personal stance on miracles: Leo shares his confidence in the potential of "local" miracles, such as healing, through a connection to high states of consciousness, a realm he believes is largely unexplored but holds legitimate possibilities. Encouragement for personal validation: He concludes by reaffirming the importance of independent experiential verification over any secondary narratives, promoting personal validation as the true pathway to understanding the miracle of existence. Unexplainability of miracles: Leo emphasizes that true miracles, including existence itself, cannot be explained because they transcend the bounds of finite understanding. Miracles are infinite, and attempts to map or define them through science or logic miss the essence of their unbounded nature. Creative power of consciousness: He describes a state of consciousness where the division between the self and the environment dissolves, allowing one to "create" reality by imagining various properties and forms. Leo suggests that consciousness can shape imagined realities, like a lemon or complex concepts, demonstrating its infinite creative capacity. Reality as an imagined construct: Addressing the perceived stability of physical reality, Leo explains that our consciousness has become fixated on a "crystallized" form of imagining, leading to a consistent experience of reality. However, this fixated state is not inherently rigid and can shift, revealing the malleable and imaginative nature of consciousness. Self-awareness leading to karma dissolution: In an awakened state, Leo discovers the possibility of erasing karma by realizing that physical limitations like genetics and memories do not exist in the "Godhead" of pure consciousness. This state is devoid of human concepts, presenting the opportunity to liberate oneself from the accumulated constructs of personal history and identity. Imaginary nature of karma: Leo conveys the idea that one's karma, which includes personal history, ailments, and problems, is actually an imaginary construct. By achieving heightened consciousness, he proposes that one can 'dissolve' into a singularity of consciousness, where these constructs do not exist, purging one's karma and past memories in a pool of pure white light of consciousness. True self and healing in consciousness: When basking in the eternal singularity of consciousness, a person can experience profound healing by shedding all life's accumulated baggage. In this state, there is a feeling of death and dissolution, but also of purification and connection with one's ultimate truest self-the pure Godhead. Purification process and loss of identity: The pure state of consciousness and selflessness, described as Nirvana, allows for complete purification from selfish impulses and all forms of suffering. As the purifying process deepens, there's a loss of personal identity and reality, which is a critical part of transformative healing. Transformation through persistent consciousness immersion: Leo emphasizes that real transformation requires prolonged immersion in the pure consciousness state. This is not a short-term process; it involves consistent long-term practice to rewire the mind and body, similar to the dedication seen in advanced yogis and meditators who achieve selfless states over decades. Accelerating consciousness with psychedelics: Psychedelics can offer a more immediate and consistent path to the profound states of consciousness necessary for deep purification. However, a common misconception is that a few psychedelic experiences are enough; Leo underscores the need for repeated and extended encounters with the transformative white light. Self-reliance and rejection of external teachings: Having reached an advanced stage in his spiritual journey, Leo now rejects all external spiritual teachings and intellectual knowledge in favor of direct personal experience. He believes most teachings are inferior to the consciousness he has experienced and encourages others to eventually become their own authority. Dependence on middlemen until reaching the source: Although Leo advocates for self-sufficiency in spiritual growth, he acknowledges that until one reaches and stabilizes in the source of ultimate consciousness, external guidance can be necessary. The goal, however, is to eliminate dependence on intermediaries and recognize oneself as the ultimate authority-God. Self-sufficiency in spiritual practice: Leo discusses his journey towards self-reliance, eschewing debates and external teachings about non-duality. He expresses dissatisfaction with the teachings, books, and videos available, finding them inferior to his direct experiences of consciousness. This realization leads to a sense of relief and empowerment, as he regains authority in his spirituality, an authority he views as inherently belonging to every individual's own consciousness. Inefficacy of traditional spiritual paths for most: Leo contends that genetic, karmic, and brain chemistry differences create disparities in individuals' capacity to access profound states of consciousness through traditional spiritual practices like meditation. He suggests that teachers in the spiritual community unknowingly perpetuate a “scam,” as their extraordinary abilities are atypical and beyond the reach of their students due to these inherent differences. Psychedelics as transformative agents: The limitations of traditional methods lead Leo to advocate for psychedelics as potent tools for spiritual transformation. He suggests that they can drastically reduce the duration and effort required for one's spiritual journey. Psychedelics are portrayed as drastically underutilized and stigmatized despite their effectiveness, leading Leo to criticize the spiritual community for dismissing their potential. Systemic resistance to psychedelic liberation: Leo asserts that psychedelics threaten not only spiritual hierarchies and business models but also broader societal structures such as capitalism, legal systems, education, marketing, and religion. This, he believes, is the reason behind the stigma and legal restrictions against psychedelics since they have the potential to democratize access to profound states of consciousness and undermine established power dynamics. Potential for local miracles through heightened consciousness: While maintaining a critical view on historical accounts of spiritual figures performing miracles, Leo suggests that achieving a high state of consciousness might enable such feats, albeit rarely. He speculates on the future possibility of mastering one's consciousness to a degree that allows for miraculous actions like healing or telepathy. Encouragement for individual validation and experience: Leo concludes by insisting on the importance of personal experience and validation over taking his word or any spiritual teachings at face value. He sees his role as offering pointers to help others directly become conscious of the miracles of life, existence, and unity with God, emphasizing the significance of individual exploration and dedication to spiritual growth. Expelliarmus

My Critique Of Zizek's Critique Of Buddhism https://www.actualized.org/insights/my-critique-of-zizeks-critique-of-buddhism Embarking on a New Critique: Leo is venturing into a new area by critiquing the views of Slavoj Žižek on Buddhism, highlighting his complex but sophisticated understanding, despite some perceived confusions. Introducing Slavoj Žižek: Leo describes Žižek as a well-known European philosopher with intriguing yet neurotic qualities and a background that includes Marxism, Hegelianism, Lacanian psychoanalysis, and specializations in political, ethical, and theological philosophy. Purpose of the Critique: Leo's critique is not intended to defend Buddhism per se, but to delve deeper into the underlying understanding of reality, consciousness, and the human mind, clarifying misconceptions and sparking meaningful dialogue. Addressing Žižek's Misconceptions: Leo is set to systematically refute Žižek's ten critiques of Buddhism, aiming to clarify the nuances of suffering and truth within Buddhist philosophy and practice. Žižek's Take on Suffering in Buddhism: Žižek argues against the Buddhist goal of eliminating suffering by suggesting people sometimes knowingly embrace suffering, such as in romantic love, implying that this desire for suffering challenges Buddhist doctrine. The Nature of Suffering and Enlightenment: Leo proposes that Buddhism and the pursuit of awakening are not just about escaping suffering, which he deems a negative motivation, but rather about realizing truth-a positive, divine motivation that goes beyond the limitations of human egotistical pursuits. Suffering's Necessity and Transcendence: Suffering is actually necessary for staying alive and subsequently for awakening. Leo argues it's not about escaping but transcending suffering, meaning one can suffer consciously and appreciate it which deepens understanding of reality. Role of Suffering in Compassion: Suffering helps to build compassion and love. Leo believes this aspect is overlooked by critics and asserts that suffering isn't purely negative as it provides an essential contrast that accentuates the experience of love. God's Incarnation and Experience of Suffering: Leo suggests that God incarnates as humans to fully experience reality, including suffering. This process of limitation and forgetting divine unity is essential to appreciate immortality and nirvana. Awakening Not Solely for Escaping Suffering: He posits that awakening shouldn't be motivated solely by the desire to escape suffering, especially if one leads a comfortable life. Instead, it should be driven by a deep curiosity for truth and understanding one's place in nature. Joyful Pursuit of Awakening Over Painful Path: Leo recommends pursuing awakening joyfully rather than through suffering. He contrasts his relatively comfortable life with those who awaken through great pain, suggesting the latter can have torturous paths that might lead to suicide rather than awakening. Insights Gained from Awakening as Sufficient Reward: Although Leo has not escaped all suffering, he finds the realizations and insights from his spiritual journey gratifying, to the extent that suffering becomes less relevant, and these insights can provide solace during challenging times. Bodhisattva Dilemma in Buddhism: Leo clarifies that the Bodhisattva vow entails a self-sacrifice for the dedication to humanity's awakening, and this role involves real trade-offs between personal enlightenment and social engagement. Trade-offs Between Hermit and Teacher Paths: Leo differentiates the solitary hermit path from the socially engaged teacher path, explaining the latter involves sacrifices and responsibilities, as exemplified by his own commitment to teaching and sharing insights with humanity. Bodhisattva's role and sacrifice: Leo discusses the Bodhisattva as someone who dedicates vast amounts of time and resources to spreading wisdom, citing Sadhguru as an example who devotes his life to teaching and humanitarian work, impacting millions despite a previous plan for Maha Samadhi. Trade-offs of the Bodhisattva path: Leo notes the choice between solitary deepening of one's own practice and dedicating time to elevate collective consciousness, suggesting the latter can limit personal spiritual exploration due to organizational responsibilities and politics. Organizational challenges for spiritual teachers: Discusses the political and organizational issues spiritual leaders like Osho faced, contradictory desires for personal enlightenment and managing a community which can lead to problems if the leader is negligent. Bodhisattva's inclination and managing awakening: Leo reflects on his own Bodhisattva-like inclination towards teaching, admitting it has influenced his path and affected the depth of his awakening, a common challenge for teachers who aren't fully awakened and get caught in power dynamics. Ethical issues in awakened communities: Leo acknowledges Žižek's concern about historical instances where Buddhist philosophy was misconstrued to justify violence, such as in WWII, highlighting the dilemma of applying spiritual detachment in ethical contexts. Misuse of spiritual detachment: Explores the problematic justifications for harmful actions through a misguided understanding of Buddhist detachment, as shown in the rationalization of Japanese imperialism and the Nazis' detachment while committing atrocities. Balancing teaching with the pursuit of deeper awakening: Leo shares the personal struggle of balancing the responsibilities of teaching with the ongoing pursuit of deeper spiritual awakening, recognizing it as part of his unique life path. Justification of Evil through Detachment: Leo criticizes the potential misuse of Buddhist detachment, detailing how it can lead to cold indifference or even rationalize harmful actions, like the Nazis' twisted logic during the Holocaust or a lack of empathy in personal relationships. Understanding 'Devilry': Leo introduces the concept of 'devilry' to explain how individuals, including those practicing Buddhism, can co-opt truth for selfish ends and exhibit harmful behavior despite spiritual experiences, as true awakening does not render one immune to moral failings or negative traits like racism or xenophobia. Awakening Experiences and Ethical Behavior: Leo emphasizes that even with awakening experiences, individuals can still harbor 'shadow' aspects, leading to ethical problems within spiritual communities such as sexual misconduct or financial exploitation; he references the materialism seen with Osho as an example. Multiple Lines of Development: Leo elaborates on the idea that awakening in the spiritual domain does not equate to advancement in other areas like politics or interpersonal relations, suggesting people can be spiritually advanced but still support destructive political ideologies if their development in that domain is insufficient. Buddhism's Disengagement with Politics: Leo critiques the traditional separation of Buddhist practice from political engagement, arguing that such disengagement can lead to spiritually advanced individuals holding damaging political views, and encourages the evolution of Buddhism to address contemporary issues like ecology and democracy. Detachment and the Capacity for Evil: Leo concedes that detachment can indeed make it easier to commit harmful acts if misused, but simultaneously points out there are legitimate scenarios for defensive violence, warning against the dangers of absolute detachment and discerning the fine line between legitimate defense and the misuse of spiritual teachings for devilry. Gap Between Awakening and Moral Actualization: Acknowledging Žižek's concern, Leo agrees that enlightenment does not prevent one from being 'bad' and distinguishes between the existential insights from awakening and the development and actualization of moral and ethical behavior in different domains of life including politics, marriage, and business leadership. Skill Development Post-Awakening: Enlightenment doesn't innately grant proficiency in worldly skills like business, politics, or marriage. These require specific skill sets, which must be learned and cannot be instantly mastered by virtue of awakening alone. Nature of Evil as Love: Leo challenges Žižek's notion of evil by presenting a radical view that all actions, even those perceived as evil, are expressions of love, including torture and genocide. This controversial stance is rooted in a deep understanding that love underlies all phenomena, which Leo acknowledges may be difficult for the ego to comprehend. Holocaust as Freedom of Choice: The Holocaust and similar atrocities, according to Leo, reflect God's love by demonstrating the freedom afforded to humans. He believes God's gift of choice allows for the spectrum of human behaviors, including those considered most heinous, to play out without divine punishment. Misinterpretation of Radical Truths: Leo acknowledges that his views on love and freedom could wrongly be used by individuals to justify nefarious actions. He stresses that the truth he speaks of is difficult to integrate into societal norms, and it may lead to being misconstrued or serving as rationalizations for "devils." Absolute Freedom and the Problem of Devilry: Addressing the criticism that his philosophy might enable malevolent actions, Leo asserts that love entails absolute freedom, including the capacity for self-delusion, and that societal constraints, not divine punishment, discourage destructive behaviors. Self-Deception Within Philosophical Systems: Leo critiques the potential for getting lost in complex ideological constructs, including his own teachings and those of Žižek, like Marxism or psychoanalysis. He points out the risk of becoming mired in one's own delusions, whether as a teacher, student, or philosopher. Limitations of Philosophical Analysis: Leo posits that solving ethical dilemmas or "devilry" cannot be achieved through philosophical discourse alone. He suggests that non-dualistic or mystical paths, such as Buddhism, offer a better direction for transcending the underlying issues of evil and deception. Chemically Induced vs. Authentic Satori: Leo discusses the distinction between peak experiences from chemical substances and the permanent insight gained through dedicated spiritual practice. He agrees with Žižek's assertion that the validity of Satori should not be dismissed due to its method of induction, while also acknowledging the value of long-term, stable spiritual growth. Meditative Practices and Psychedelics: Leo emphasizes that psychedelics and traditional practices like meditation should be combined for optimal spiritual development. Psychedelics provide profound experiences that enhance meditation, which in turn allows for integration and rewiring of the psyche. Misconceptions about Chemicals and Enlightenment: Leo refutes the materialist view that enlightenment via chemicals is invalid, explaining that what people perceive as chemicals are hallucinations within God's Universal Mind. Therefore, chemically induced Satori doesn't undermine its existential truth. Zen Poetry and Vulgar Subjects: Leo agrees with Žižek that all subjects, including those considered vulgar, are equally spiritual when one is awake. Zen poetry traditionally avoids vulgar subjects not because they lack divinity, but to resonate with audiences and attract them to spirituality. Equivalence of Buddhist and Judeo-Christian Ethics: Leo explains that what appears as Buddhist detachment and Judeo-Christian engagement in the material world is a false dichotomy. Awakening deeply immerses individuals in the material world, which becomes God's body, creating a paradox of being both detached and compassionately involved. Nature of Love and Awakening: Leo highlights that true awakening reveals both the emptiness of self (nihilistic aspect) and the realization of being everything and infinitely good (the love aspect). Despite the existence of negative experiences, they deepen our understanding of love, emphasizing that everything is an expression of absolute love. Compassion Despite Illusory Suffering: Compassion in awakening arises from the realization that others are expressions of oneself and God. Empathy persists even for illusory suffering because beings are unaware of their divine nature, and the inability to communicate the full magnitude of love is the root of compassion. Crucio

@Princess Arabia I would say that for one that as just had their first Awakening the motivation to do mundane, normal everyday things maybe low, but if one has been in an Awakened state for awhile and has gotten used to it, then motivation should never be an issue or something that comes up. Motivation to me is mostly about outside stimuli, like watching a Rocky movie to get motivated to go workout or something.. A cool trick for Us householders is too make everyday chores and work as well a sort of Spiritual Sadhana, try to observe everything in the moment with a high Intensity like its the first time You have ever done it..Also, serving others and sharing all that You are with others is a form of Devotion or Self less action (karma yoga), its a sadhana all on its own..

Something just came to me that I would like to share. In life (the "mundane" stuff) we're just performing tasks. Going to work feeding the kids, buying the car, the house, even entertainment, buying clothes, everything. We're performing these tasks for survival, for maintenance of the body, for ways and means to feel secure, a sense of freedom, to feel loved, a sense of peace joy and gratitude. All the good stuff - you know the deal. When you've Awakened to your true nature, and I mean really know who and what you are, you may feel unmotivated to continue doing those "tasks" because you've recognized that they don't fulfill you. During your Awakening those feelings were magnified and now nothing comes close. You were only doing those things and were motivated to do them because of the feelings they generated within you. Even the job you didn't like was still giving you a sense of purpose and maybe a sense of productivity and worth. Now, you're unmotivated to do the mundane things because you don't have a reason to anymore. You wanted to feel secure but now you're already feeling secure, you wanted to feel loved, but now you're already feeling loved, you wanted to feel the freedom that working these mundane jobs provided, but now you don't crave that feeling anymore from Awakening to your true nature. Either that or those feelings want to push through more intensely but you're unmotivated to do mundane things to let them flow through. I don't really have the solution for this lack of motivation, and I do believe it's partially for the reasons stated above, for which I could be wrong, and could only apply to some and not all; but If it applies, maybe this is the time to really focus on your passions or the things that you enjoy the most because you did incarnate in this body for a reason, and that is to experience what it's like to be human from the perspective of Source (did I say that right - or is it the other way around), and maybe your Awakening is a message to you to really start living and to make yourself available for all the joys and pleasures that comes with this recognition instead of not allowing Source to flow through you in the unique way it wants which only you can do. Your lack of motivation could be the body being used to the adrenaline of "fake" fulfillment and the mind is telling it that it is already fulfilled and now it doesn't want to move to fit into the new paradigm of being already fulfilled because it is conditioned to do mundane tasks. The body and mind are not aligned, or maybe it's the mind and body that's not aligned with the heart. Not sure, but something isn't aligned.

Infinite Love Awakening https://www.actualized.org/insights/infinite-love-awakening Continued exploration of consciousness: Leo describes his journey through multiple awakenings, with the latest one being a profound shift that he terms a "white hole of pure consciousness," a state where he ceases to identify as human and perceives existence without any constraints, fully immersed in a realization of infinite love. Understanding of love and creation: He delves into the mechanics of the divine, experiencing a clear understanding that everything in the universe is created from and for the purpose of infinite love. This level of love is so intense that it becomes annihilating and could be perceived as terrifying due to its totality and overwhelming nature. Realization of life's purpose: Leo comes to the conclusion that the highest purpose of life is the expression and experience of infinite love. He emphasizes that God's intent is to share this love by creating a multitude of forms and beings, despite the inherent fear and confusion this profound love may cause in lesser beings. The paradox of finite understanding: He highlights the struggle of lesser beings who are unable to fully grasp infinite love due to their finite nature. This limitation leads to a life filled with suffering, confusion, and the chase for temporal pleasures. He asserts that all negative experiences and actions stem from a misunderstanding or fear of love. Life as perceived from a higher state of consciousness: Leo suggests that, from the perspective of this higher state of consciousness, there is nothing to lose or fear in life. Everything, including what is traditionally considered evil, is actually derived from infinite love and has no negative implications when understood correctly. Role of fear in human actions: Leo points out that fear in life is essentially the fear of love, and that every human action is a quest for love or a response to the lack of it. He exemplifies this through interpersonal relationships and aggressive behaviors, stating that these ultimately reflect the human longing for love in its many forms. Universal motivation for love: Leo reiterates the idea that every being's actions are motivated by love, whether through desire or fear. He challenges the listener to recognize love as the underlying reason for all occurrences, both positive and negative, no matter how convoluted or counterintuitive it may seem. Path of life and awakening: Leo's vision features a giant ball of infinite love from which strands representing individual lives emerge. Humans are born with a desire for love but lack proper guidance to find it, leading them to stray further from the source (Godhead). Ultimately, all return to this source, whether through death or awakening, with no distinction between the two. Perception of humanity's insignificance: Leo gains a perspective whereby humanity, along with all its knowledge, is depicted as infinitesimally small compared to infinite consciousness. Mankind's existential weight is likened to a particle of dust within a vast hurricane, emphasizing the sheer scale of the broader conscious universe. Death as a victory: From his awakened state, Leo contends that death should not be feared but embraced as the ultimate union with infinite love. He describes it as winning the cosmic lottery, where the individual transitions to a state of ultimate positivity, far greater than any human experience. Love as the reason for everything: Leo challenges viewers to reexamine all events and actions through the lens of love, proposing that love is the driving force behind every occurrence, even those perceived as negative or harmful. This view requires a significant shift in perspective and understanding of causation. Conscious awareness mitigating fear: By recognizing the infinite love underpinning existence, one becomes immune to fear and suffering, as fear is rendered nonsensical from a higher standpoint. This realization is described as liberating and transformative, dissolving the dread associated with life's adversities. Integration of consciousness and love: Leo expresses that only by being God can one grasp that everything is love. For lesser beings, the journey of life is an arc that ultimately returns to infinite love-a realization that arrives typically at life's end but could be recognized earlier. Consciousness beyond traditional teachings: He asserts that his consciousness has advanced beyond established spiritual teachings like Zen, Advaita, Yoga, and Buddhism. He emphasizes that fully awakening entails recognizing infinite love in all aspects of life and existence. A call to prioritize infinite consciousness: Leo urges the audience to forget other concepts like no self, nothingness, the void, and self-enquiry, and instead to relentlessly pursue infinite love and consciousness without predefined methods, highlighting the difficulty of this path. Confidence in evolved teachings: He discusses the evolution of his teachings and claims superiority in understanding compared to other spiritual masters. Despite feeling overwhelmed by the responsibility to teach, he is determined to share his insights. Teaching from motivation not method: Leo advises focusing on the ultimate motivation and intention in the spiritual journey rather than being caught up in specific methodologies. He believes this approach will lead to success over time. Critical understanding of actual truth: He underscores the importance of cultivating a profound desire for actual truth and understanding, as opposed to clinging to non-dual states or enlightenment experiences without comprehension. He argues that deep understanding is key to awakening. Understanding as a path to genuine awakening: Emphasizing that one is not truly awake until they can account for every occurrence in reality, Leo calls for understanding the universal causation of love as the fundamental reason behind all events and actions. Future of teachings: Leo looks forward to deepening his teachings, focusing on essential truths, and avoiding wasting time on less important details. He hints at the future content that connects concepts more directly and promises to reveal more profound insights. Amortentia

Tapping Into Collective Consciousness https://www.actualized.org/insights/tapping-into-collective-consciousness New consciousness exploration: Leo delves into collective consciousness, advancing beyond personal awareness. He perceives reality as embodying a layered, hierarchical structure reminiscent of a corporation, where one might connect with higher, collective aspects beyond individual consciousness. Materialism vs. collective experience: He challenges materialist reductionism, advocating for a broader perspective where the collective, interconnected consciousness, such as that of the entire human race, is conceivable when recognizing the universe as an imagination within God's infinite mind. Contemplating humanity's trajectory: In expansive states of consciousness, Leo suggests that time becomes irrelevant and one can illuminate different aspects of universal knowledge. He shares an extraordinary experience of shining his awareness on mankind's collective aspects and the consciousness of all current fetuses on Earth, aiming to influence their future openness and awakening. Reality and imagination convergence: In heightened states of consciousness, Leo claims that the distinction between reality and imagination vanishes, making it possible to potentially influence reality through the power of imagination and intention. Individual influence limitations: Leo discusses the universe's design that restricts individuals from wielding enough power to make significant, arbitrary changes to reality, preventing potential abuses and maintaining order within the cosmic structure. Selflessness in higher consciousness: Reaching profound levels of consciousness eliminates selfish intentions, according to Leo. He describes an experience filled with love for all creation, intending to bless and improve the world selflessly, resonating with God's creative intent. Miracles and spirituality: Leo discusses the myths and stories of miracles within Christianity and other mystical traditions, acknowledging that while some may be false or exaggerated, others could be based on real feats achieved by accessing deep levels of consciousness far beyond typical enlightenment. Selflessness in high consciousness states: He emphasizes that actions taken from these high states of consciousness are infused with an infinite love stemming from a universal source. This selfless state eliminates any notion of evil intent, focusing instead on contributing positively to all of creation. Healing with imagination: Leo suggests that healing at these levels does not require physical intervention but is achieved through the power of imagination. He proposes that by tapping into unlimited intelligence, one can envision and, therefore, change the health and well-being of others, regardless of the physical distance or time. The abstract nature of imagination: He explains that imagination is not confined to concrete entities but can encompass abstract collectives, such as all of humanity. This allows for impacting larger wholes, similar to understanding humanity as a hand with billions of interconnected digits. Purpose after awakening: Leo identifies the purpose of life post-awakening as serving creation in alignment with God. He dictates that to engage effectively in such a divine service, one must reach a state of purity and complete alignment with God, moving beyond personal desires and living as a vessel for God's work on Earth. Life as God incarnate: After awakening, one's life should be dedicated to contributing to the world as God himself would-selflessly, without personal gain. This can manifest in various ways, from healing and teaching to art and leadership, with the underlying motivation being to demonstrate and inspire with divine love. The utility of awakened life: Leo proposes that the most meaningful way to use one's time on Earth is to embody God's infinite goodness and love, going beyond seeking personal awakening. He encourages a shift in perspective from personal gratification to living as a reflection of God's will and benevolence in one's actions and creations. Synergy between individual contributions and collective impact: Leo illustrates how individual efforts, like streams, come together to form a larger collective force, much like rivers merging into an Amazon-sized entity. This metaphor highlights the potential for individual actions to contribute to grander societal or even cosmic endeavors. Service without obligation: He encourages serving the greater good without feeling obligated, suggesting that true joy and fulfillment come when one contributes selflessly to the world, serving mankind, the earth, or the cosmos, aligned with one's higher consciousness and understanding of their role. Living selflessly as God's messenger: Leo describes how a heightened state of consciousness can transform a person into a messenger of God on Earth, where their actions, regardless of profession, express divine love and contribute meaningfully to the betterment of creation without explicitly discussing God. Creative and varied expressions of sainthood: He criticizes strictly ascetic spiritual practices for their lack of applicability to societal living, proposing a more expansive vision of sainthood that includes a variety of creative and societal contributions, echoing the Christian mystical tradition of performing good works. Necessity for societal transformation: Emphasizing the need to reflect the love and goodness of God in all societal facets, Leo advocates for a broader participation of enlightened individuals in various fields, beyond traditional teaching roles, to help transform society holistically. Inspiration for spiritual work: Leo shares his personal motivation for spiritual practice, revolving around a deep desire to understand and embody the universal truth, creativity, and love. He encourages finding a positive and visionary purpose to fuel the demanding journey towards higher consciousness and godlike creation. Critique of negative motivation: He critiques the pursuit of enlightenment solely to escape suffering, arguing that such negative motivation fails to reach the highest levels of consciousness. Instead, he champions positive motivations like seeking truth, understanding, beauty, and a desire to contribute to the greater good as the proper drive for spiritual growth. Ascendio

May 2018 Solo Retreat - Part 3 https://www.actualized.org/insights/may-2018-solo-retreat-part-3 Premature end to spiritual retreat: After a grueling 15 days, Leo stopped his intense spiritual retreat, having aspired to complete 30 days. He faced psychological barriers and rationalizations for ending early, which led to a sense of compromised integrity as he fell short of the publicly stated goal. Struggles with deep spiritual work: Leo encountered unexpected hardships, including doubt about his methods, questioning the possibility of enlightenment, and encountering the limits of his psychological endurance. He describes the extremely challenging nature of inward-focused spiritual work. Challenging oneself versus adequate self-care: Facing intense mental resistance and diminishing returns from his practices, Leo deliberated between forcefully pushing through or acknowledging the ineffectiveness of brute force in meditation and self-inquiry once mental fatigue set in. The critical role of discipline in spiritual achievement: Leo discusses the varying degrees of natural self-discipline among people and cautions against using this as an excuse for lack of progress. He emphasizes that discipline is a key ingredient for spiritual mastery and notes the importance of acknowledging personal strengths and weaknesses. Self-selection bias in spiritual teaching: He reflects on the tendency for successful practitioners to become spiritual teachers, potentially creating a self-selection bias where many struggling or unsuccessful practitioners remain unheard. The rarity of deep awakening experiences contributes to the skewed narrative, which often obscures the difficulty of the journey. Filming one's own journey towards awakening: Leo explores his intention to document his own path to awakening, comparing it to the improbable task of filming someone's lottery win. This documentation aims to provide a realistic portrayal of the quest for enlightenment, circumventing the biases that come from only hearing from those successful after the fact. Challenge of filming the spiritual journey: Leo reflects on the difficulty of trying to document the process of winning the "spiritual lottery." He recognizes the immense control required and acknowledges both his strengths and the possibility that he may never fully become enlightened due to various human limitations. Realism in spiritual practice: He stresses the importance of being realistic about spiritual work, which is often far deeper and more challenging than commonly perceived. Engaging seriously in practices like self-inquiry will lead only a small percentage to enlightenment. Being honest about personal shortcomings is crucial for genuine progress. Complexity of sustained retreats: The difficulty of retreats increases exponentially with time, leading to profound suffering from ennui and an empty realization of life's inherent pointlessness. Leo admits to underestimating the retreat's challenge and discusses the need for a deeper respect for the discipline required in spiritual practices. Dealing with a sense of meaninglessness: Intense experiences of suffering and existential emptiness during the retreat led to a demoralizing recognition of the pointlessness of life, down to everyday activities. This realization requires a difficult reconciliation with the demands of the ordinary world post-retreat. Impact of realization on daily life: After deep spiritual practice, Leo feels demoralized by the understanding that all life activities, including relationships and basic self-care, are ultimately meaningless. This leads to an existential funk and doubts about the point of engaging in regular social or personal routines. Limits of spiritual pushing and risk of negative states: Leo discusses the dangers of pushing oneself too far in spiritual practice, risking mental breakdowns, depersonalization, or suicidal thoughts. He stresses the importance of knowing when to take a break, analyze one's approach, and avoid harmful extremes. Breakthroughs in self-inquiry and meditation: During his retreat, Leo achieved a clear understanding of effective self-inquiry, focusing on the ungraspable awareness that underlies existence. He also experienced a state of meditation where he could shut off internal dialogue, deeply impacting his perception of reality, though maintaining this state proved challenging. Simplifying Kriya Yoga practices: Leo shares his transition to a more streamlined version of Kriya Yoga based on a simpler and more effective form found in other resources. He plans to discuss this new approach further in the future. Necessity of building discipline: Reflecting on his past struggles and current comfort-induced complacency, Leo recognizes the need to build more discipline to achieve his goals in self-actualization and enlightenment. He recalls the motivation from his times as an underdog and acknowledges the challenges of finding meaningful pursuits when basic needs are met and nothing appears to fulfill or make one happy. Reassessment of daily practices: Post-retreat, Leo realized the need for more strategic discipline in daily practices rather than relying on brute force, emphasizing gradual but consistent efforts similar to weightlifting techniques. Discipline as a remedy for laziness: After recognizing creeping laziness, he began waking up earlier to build discipline, reflecting that intense retreats are not sufficient; the work needs to be carried out regularly to be effective. Personal growth from retreat insights: Despite not completing the full retreat, Leo gained significant insights that led to rethinking his approach to self-actualization and spiritual exploration, particularly related to Spiral Dynamics. Advancement through stages: He advises against rushing through spiritual stages, stressing the importance of thoroughly exploring and integrating experiences at each stage, such as Orange and Yellow, before moving on to Turquoise. Importance of integrity: Leo discusses the importance of integrity, balancing making realistic commitments with the need for bold challenges, and the consequences of failing oneself. Breaking low integrity cycle: To break a cycle of low integrity, he recommends starting with small, manageable commitments to build discipline and gradually improve integrity. Retreats vs. old life: Returning to normal life after a retreat can bring back old habits, echoing pitfalls similar to those a drug addict faces after rehabilitation. It's challenging to maintain the awakened state amidst the return to everyday responsibilities and distractions. Challenge of old habits post-retreat: After the retreat, Leo found himself quickly reverting to old habits, an issue akin to the relapse struggles of recovering drug addicts. He highlighted the difficulty of effecting lasting change when returning to an environment that reinforces previous behaviors. Complexity of environment change: Altering one's environment can temporarily aid in breaking old patterns, but sustainable change is challenging due to practical constraints like financial means, work, and social connections. Additionally, changes like canceling cable or selling possessions have limitations when tools like computers and the internet play essential roles in daily life. Toxic versus necessary elements: The struggle lies in navigating the balance between the toxic distractions and essential functions of modern conveniences, understanding that while they can waste countless hours, they also serve critical roles in emergencies and accessing valuable resources. Psychology-environment feedback loop: Leo noted that our psychology shapes our environment and vice versa, creating a loop that is hard to break. A new environment may initially offer respite, but old psychological patterns can soon recreate the previous toxic setting. Navigating homeostasis amidst radical change: Seeking radical change comes with the cost of discomfort and suffering. Slow, diligent work may appear insignificant due to its gradual nature, but it's necessary for sustainable growth without overwhelming one's mental stability. Rate of growth relative to timeframe: Personal growth's perception depends on the timeframe considered; gradual work over years may feel less impactful but is more manageable than compressing extensive growth into a short period, which could result in evasion or denial. Upcoming content and life balance: Leo plans to create content exploring deep concepts and reconciling the balance between achieving awakening and engaging in everyday life. He discusses the hollow feeling of a life devoid of purpose beyond personal spiritual work and the need to find a balance between detachment and participation in daily activities post-enlightenment. Inevitability of ignorance: Leo emphasizes the necessity of ignorance in the world, recognizing that everyone's personal growth journey is unique, and it's necessary for individuals to go through personal processes and experiences to overcome their own ignorance. Shift to a non-judgmental stance: Leo is experiencing a shift to stage yellow in spiral dynamics, where it becomes impossible to criticize or judge any intellectual point of view because all perspectives are interconnected and every viewpoint contains some grain of truth. Empathy and constructive evolution: Instead of pushing or criticizing others, Leo advocates for empathizing with their psychological and existential needs and helping them evolve constructively. The real art lies in building bridges and aiding in their growth at their own pace. Futility of debating perspectives: Engaging in debates and criticizing worldviews is seen as a complete waste of time; rather, understanding and working with the consciousness level that individuals possess is key to genuinely helping them. Upcoming content plans: Leo shares his excitement to return with new content focusing on spiral dynamics and practical guidance for growth through each stage, aiming to avoid theoretical discussions and instead provide value through practical insights. Finite Incantatem

@Muhammad Jawad Simple answer is You've only had a small taste of Awakening, not the whole thing yet, its not intense enough yet in your experience so that your normal tendencies and cravings are set aside. If Your very Awakened, to an intense state of experience and its sustainable, then you will have no cravings, no attachments, no addictions, your fully aware and conscious of all your actions (physical, mental, emotional, energetic) and can control them, so what you need to do is increase the intensity of Your Awakening, start some practices that do this for You..

The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures - Zen's Stages Of Enlightenment Explained https://youtu.be/w4ZWNzSliGk "Things that smell of Buddhism are disagreeable, but things that have absolutely no whiff of Buddhism are even worse." - Yamada Mumon Evolution of the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures: The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures emerged nearly a thousand years ago in China, evolving into different versions over time with the aim of mapping the stages of spiritual awakening in Zen Buddhism. Yamada Mamon's Influence: Leo Gura bases his explanation of the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures on Yamada Mamon's rare book "Lectures on the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures," highlighting it as a source of advanced wisdom initially intended for Zen monk students. The Map's Role in Spirituality: The Ten Ox-Herding Pictures serve as a guide through various stages of awakening and are comparable to other spiritual models like Spiral Dynamics, emphasizing growth and evolution beyond a single experience. Warning of Advanced Teachings: Before delving into the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures, Leo warns of the model's complexity and the readiness required for individuals to properly grasp and apply its lessons. First Picture - Searching for the Ox: The journey starts with individuals feeling lost and attempting to understand life's purpose, leading to the initial desire for awakening and a vow to achieve enlightenment. Image 1 The Ox as an Enlightenment Symbol: The Ox symbolizes enlightenment, representing ultimate truth and the answers to the purpose of life, nature of suffering, reality, and existence. Dualistic Viewpoint of Individuals: Embroiled in discriminative, dualistic thinking, people struggle with confusion caused by continuous comparison and the inability to grasp non-duality. Starting the Spiritual Journey: The desire for enlightenment is highlighted as an essential first step on the spiritual path, countering the misconception that seeking awakening is misguided. Endurance and Suffering on the Spiritual Path: The spiritual journey is likened to climbing Mount Everest, requiring substantial investment and preparation to avoid rushing into it and potentially giving up. Consistency in Spiritual Practice: Leo emphasizes that sporadic practice will not yield results; spiritual techniques like meditation, yoga, and self-inquiry must be pursued consistently to achieve progress. Consistent Effort in Spiritual Work: Leo Gura discusses the importance of persistent and consistent spiritual practice. Without a strong and singular focus, efforts may be comparable to froth that drifts away in a stream, while pushing ahead single-mindedly ensures progress toward awakening. Stumbling Upon the Ox's Footprints: This metaphor describes those who have encountered spiritual concepts and practices superficially, like reading books or experiencing brief moments of insight during meditation or through psychedelics, but have not fully grasped or seen the 'Ox' of true enlightenment. Image 2 Challenges of Skepticism and Superficial Practices: Leo warns against the pitfalls of skepticism and casual spiritual practices that prevent deep engagement with the path to awakening. Intellectualization without practice can lead to self-delusion, and the need for genuine commitment to overcome this is emphasized. Value of Studying and Learning from Scriptures: Citing a Zen master, Leo underlines the necessity of studying traditional teachings and working with scripture to avoid misdirection, negating the belief that Zen practice excludes scholarly study. Persistence to Catch the Ox: The Zen master's advice portrayed by Leo suggests steadfast dedication reaffirms one's vow to attain enlightenment. Calling upon listeners not to abandon efforts because certainty of catching the Ox comes with perseverance and resolve. The First Glimpse of the Real 'Ox': Leo describes the profound experience of the first real sighting of the 'Ox'. This initial mystical experience can be both awe-inspiring and terrifying, creating a more serious commitment to the spiritual path due to the realization of its reality. Image 3 On the Rarified Nature of Awakening: Leo communicates the predicament of those who experience just a momentary glimpse of awakening. The magnitude of the experience often results in a retreat back to the ego, highlighting the challenge to stably face and integrate the 'Ox', or enlightenment, into one's life. Importance of Completing the Journey: The Zen master quoted points out that catching a glimpse of the Ox is only an early stage in the spiritual journey. Even after this first sighting, there are several more stages to go through to fully catch and train the Ox, signifying the continuity and difficulty of the spiritual path. Communicating Non-Duality: Claiming words fail to express non-duality, as language is inherently dualistic. Leo Gura explains the difficulty in communicating about the Ox (enlightenment) because any attempt to describe it only further entrenches the dualistic perspective. Kensho's Vulnerability to Worldly Encounters: Kensho, or awakening attained through seated meditation, is fragile and can be disrupted by the chaos of the external world. The internal power built through Samadhi (meditative consciousness) is easily disturbed by everyday sensory experiences. Misconceptions About Enlightenment: Many enter the spiritual journey with naive expectations of enlightenment being an endpoint after which no further work is needed. However, Gura asserts the path of awakening is more challenging and life-altering than expected. Owning and Taming the Ox: Gura emphasizes the difficulty in truly catching and owning the Ox. Taming the Ox requires the complete surrender of the ego, lifestyle, and societal conditioning to genuinely embody enlightenment. Image 4 The Problems with Selfish Spirituality: Using spirituality for egotistical purposes, such as starting cults or seeking fame, contradicts the essence of enlightenment. The craving and attachment to such desires are antithetical to spiritual awakening and will cause the Ox to flee. Danger of Twisting Spiritual Experiences: A warning of the perils when one's ego manipulates an initial awakening experience, potentially leading to starting cults or adopting misaligned motives rather than a true spiritual realization. The Process of Taming the Ox: Described as grueling, involving spiritual purification and extensive inner work. It requires constant self-reflection to confront deep-rooted selfishness and desires. Image 5 Distinction Between Beginners and Masters: Gura clarifies that beginners often assume enlightenment marks the end of their spiritual practice, whereas masters continue rigorous post-Satori practice to purify selfishness and ignorance over many years. How Post-Satori Practice Differs from Initial Awakening: The importance of post-Satori practice is to continue even after achieving awakening; it is critical for truly integrating this realization into one's being, which requires ongoing effort until death. Training of No-Mind Consciousness: Being an essential part of mastery, training towards a no-mind state—where the mind is clear of thoughts—is the pinnacle of spiritual practice. This state reflects a deep, abiding awareness and understanding of non-duality. Abiding Non-Dual Awareness: Enlightenment reaches fruition as abiding non-dual awareness becomes the constant state of experience, unrestrained by thoughts. It is likened to a continuous state of "no-mind," where one sees divinity and oneness ceaselessly in everyday existence. Importance of Post-Satori Training: The post-enlightenment phase, or post-Satori training, involves maintaining moment-to-moment mindfulness. It is a process of perfecting the initial awakening (kensho) and is accessible only after one has seen their true nature through Satori. Mindfulness as Taming the Ox: Continuous concentration on mindfulness is likened to taming the Ox. It is essential to train oneself to sustain this state of no-mind to prevent reverting to a condition of unreal thoughts or losing touch with Buddha nature. Embodiment of Awakening: The stage of "riding the Ox home" symbolizes the embodiment of awakening into daily life. The non-duality discovered through awakening is reintegrated with the duality of ordinary life, leading to a genuine experience of reality. Image 6 Returning to Ordinary Life with Awakening: One who has truly attained enlightenment does not remain isolated but returns to impermanent worldly life. The ordinary world is transformed and is seen as the true reality infused with the enlightened perspective. Transcending the Pursuit of Enlightenment: The phase called "ox transcended" represents ceasing the chase for awakening and acknowledging the present moment as the ultimate enlightenment. Misunderstanding this as mere contentment with the status quo is cautioned against; the significance of this understanding is transformative. Image 7 Misuse of Satori and Remaining Unfettered: The Zen master warns against being ensnared by one's enlightenment (Satori) experience. True liberation means forgetting about the distinctive attainment and not allowing it to lead to arrogance or a loss of freedom. Enlightenment as a Means, Not an End: The metaphor of the Ox, serving as a tool for enlightenment, is discarded once its purpose is served. Enlightenment is about realizing Buddha nature, not clinging to the device that led there. Purpose of Life According to Zen: The ultimate answer to the purpose of life is found in the playful, unconditioned enjoyment of existence. This represents a shift to unconditional happiness, detached from circumstances. Liberation and the Notion of 'No Self': True liberation involves the realization of 'no self,' leading to unconditional positivity in life. It signifies a life where happiness is not contingent upon external factors. Surrender and Liberation: Surrendering everything including your life, leads to a state where nothing can negatively affect you. In this state, you've faced the worst, voluntarily ending all attachments, and every moment afterward is experienced as a bonus—a form of liberation and play. Counterintuitive Happiness: Leo Gura speaks about the counterintuitive move of choosing happiness under all conditions, abandoning the insistence on conditional happiness which causes suffering. True happiness persists regardless of external events, even in the face of global or personal catastrophes. Judgments and Original Nature: Surrendering judgments of good and bad reveals our 'original face' or Buddha nature. Letting go of such dualistic distinctions paradoxically transforms everything into goodness—a state of non-judgment where all of reality is perceived positively. Advanced Stages of Human Development: Attaining a state where no conditions can make one unhappy represents an advanced level of human consciousness, comparable to the dedication required to become a brain surgeon. This stage requires thousands of hours of work, beyond casual spiritual experiences. Transformation Through Radical Surrender: True transformation and the ability to experience everything as inherently good requires the complete surrender of one's life (metaphorically and literally) and deeply held personal desires, leading to the highest levels of spiritual development. Emptiness as the Path to Everythingness: In the advanced stages of spiritual awakening, all concepts including the self, the ox (enlightenment), and all dualistic efforts, pass away. Here, true emptiness is realized—it's not experienced as nihilism but as the beginning of an infinite, formless, and unchanging existence. Image 8 Realizing the Non-occurrence of the Universe: At the peak of spiritual insight, one realizes that nothing in the universe has ever transpired; it's all an illusion or 'pure emptiness'. This radical level of non-duality surpasses ordinary awakening and is described as a complete absence of all conceived reality. True Emptiness and Revelation of Buddha Nature: The culmination of practice and discipline is reached where there is no longer an 'awakened', 'awakening', or 'Dharma'. Here, pure Buddha nature is revealed—standing beyond attributes, judgments, or dualistic distinctions, embodying the perfect 'just so' world of Satori. Realization of Life and Death's Illusion: Enlightenment brings the understanding that life and death are not real, and the universe's origin and purpose is acknowledged as non-existent; the familiar world disappears into emptiness. Emptiness and the Completion of Self's Extinguishing: Advanced enlightenment leads to a profound emptiness where even the rigorous practices that led to awakening become irrelevant. Any inkling of self or attachment to practices like Mu or Zazen vanishes, leaving one in a state of polished emptiness. Radical Disidentification from Birth: At this stage of spirituality, one no longer believes they were ever born, which is a radical departure from conventional self-perception, signifying an absolute disconnection from the narrative of individual existence. Push to Attain the State of Emptiness: The master instructs practitioners to strive fervently to experience this ultimate state of being at least once, representing a complete immersion in non-duality and self-annihilation. The Ninth Picture – Returning to the Source: Reflecting on 'returning to the source', Leo admits his limited understanding but conveys the stage's message about the superfluous nature of striving since enlightenment exists in the present moment without effort. Image 9 Challenges of Embodiment After Deep Mystical Experiences: Leo acknowledges the difficulty in integrating profound spiritual glimpses from psychedelic experiences into daily life, noting the difference between having deep insights and living them out consistently. Non-Linear Spiritual Journey: Leo warns against interpreting spiritual stages linearly, emphasizing personal variations and possible deviations due to different practices or inherent spiritual gifts. Final Thoughts on Picture Nine: Returning to the source signifies an absolute identity with the universe and the self, a state where dualistic concerns dissolve, answering all metaphysical inquiries—the embodiment of Zen where the universe as it is represents heaven. Humility of Enlightened Individuals: The tenth stage culminates in re-entering ordinary life with profound humility, completely ordinary to the extent that enlightenment becomes undetectable to others. This humility cannot be feigned and serves as a true indication of mastery. Image 10 Virtue of Blending into Ordinary Life After Enlightenment: Post-enlightenment life involves integrating back into mundane existence while retaining the insight gained. True masters wear their realization without show, living simply and sharing their light in an unassuming manner. Misconceptions of Enlightenment: Newcomers to spiritual paths often harbor fantasies of specialness post-enlightenment but fail to recognize that true enlightenment entails the complete loss of self and manifests as unmistakable humility. Evaluating Spiritual Teachers: Leo Gura assesses the authenticity of spiritual teachers by observing the depth of their humility, which he considers an honest signal of enlightenment that can't be faked. Zen Master on Post-Enlightenment Life: The Zen master's teachings suggest that genuine spiritual masters don't flaunt their enlightenment; instead, they live humbly among ordinary people, shedding any signs of elitism or higher status. Jesus as a Role Model of Humility: Jesus is highlighted for his radical humility, living among the common people without showing superiority, serving as a powerful example of the Zen teachings. Warnings against Elitism Post-Enlightenment: Spiritual leaders who indulge in luxury and exclusivity may not fully embody the true essence of enlightenment, as true masters are expected to live simple and modest lives. Awakening Others: Those who've reached the highest state of awakening have a role to play in helping others realize their Buddha-nature, not through preaching but by simply being present and joyful among them. The Commitment Necessary for Spiritual Growth: Understanding the full implications and commitments of the spiritual path can be overwhelming, and were it not for the enticing beginnings, many might abandon the pursuit altogether. Point of No Return on the Path: Having learned too much, individuals on the spiritual path reach a point where they can't go back to a state of ignorance. The knowledge they've acquired about existence and suffering compels them to pursue enlightenment. Following the Heart on the Spiritual Journey: Despite uncertainties and potential losses, the spiritual seeker is encouraged to trust the heart and the path it urges them to take, even in the face of deep fears and difficulties. Enduring the Sufferings of the Spiritual Path: Enlightenment comes after navigating through increasing levels of suffering, reinforcing the need for perseverance and trust that suffering will eventually cease. The Role of Wisdom and Guidance: Leo recommends revisiting wisdom from spiritual masters and texts to stay on track and avoid forming rigid ideologies, thus ensuring one remains true to the path of enlightenment. Enlightening Others as a Continuation of Growth: After attaining enlightenment, the journey continues through the enlightenment of others. This process is framed as an extension and fulfillment of one's spiritual work. Flipendo

Maybe you find Wilbers book "One Taste" interesting. On the topic of Enlightenment & awakened states, the entries start mainly from March 9th (it is a diary of one year).

A distinction is made for a reason. Call a dog a dog. Without a body, experience can't occur. Consciousness might be at the source of experience, but believing hindrances an open investigation. Also, what is experience, and how does it come to pass? We shouldn't paint everything with the same brush. Absolute consciousness is whatever it is, the point is to become conscious, it doesn't provide consciousness into relative phenomena. What is a body? What is anger? What is an object? What is another? Realistically, these additional questions has to be worked on independently even when "enlightened." Which principles allow for mastery in a certain field? This is a clue that even when awakened, ignorance in some form is still present. Does that help?

How To Practice Love - What Does It Mean To Love https://youtu.be/EzTEzav5l20 The path to making yourself more loving is the path to God. Understanding of love's deep aspects: Love is the opposite of rejection, hate, judgment, and other negative behaviors. Loving properly involves accepting reality and not wanting it to be different. The hindrance to extending love to other people is bias. Concept of God is love: The core realization in spirituality is recognizing God as love where God acts selflessly for the collective good of existence. This selflessness gradually expands as God awakens to the consciousness that it is infinite love. Practicing love: One should practice love without setting unreachable standards of perfection for oneself. The goal is to be a little more loving each day, leading to less conflict, fear, and anxiety, and more happiness. Practical application: Practicing love includes setting boundaries where necessary, leaving abusive situations, and respecting your sovereignty and values. Loving an abuser does not mean staying with them; it means holding compassion and empathy for them from a distance. Navigating love vs. selfish needs: As you fulfill your own needs, life becomes more about helping others satisfy their needs, until eventually you reach a point of selflessness, then your life just becomes about being of service to others. Understanding one's limitations and practicing self-respect is important. View on relationships: If you're in an abusive situation, you must prioritize your safety and well-being. You can continue to have compassion and empathy for your abuser, but it is advisable to do so from a safe distance. Applying love to life ambitions: The Life Purpose Course is a blueprint on how to develop a career you love. It aligns one's life with their values and shows them how to follow through on that alignment. It fits into the concept of falling in love with your life. Self-awareness and growth: Acknowledging personal imperfections is vital while practicing love. Like others, no one can be perfectly loving. Recognizing personal selfishness can be challenging but necessary for growth and understanding others' selfishness. Balancing ideals with reality: Although the aim is to become more loving, it's crucial to remember that everyone, including oneself, is a finite form of consciousness and cannot always meet the highest standards of love. Patience, understanding, and self-compassion are essential on the journey towards becoming a better lover. Loyalty within relationships: Having a friend or partner's unwavering support, known as 'having your back,' is a determinant of loyalty and trust—key components of love. Skepticism often arises if a person does not seem reliable, indicating less love or connection. Avoiding impositions of personal agendas: A common mistake in attempting to love others is imposing personal goals onto them rather than understanding and supporting their unique aspirations, which hinders the expression of true love. Extension of self through love: Real love involves expanding one's sense of self to include the loved one, thereby making their survival, happiness, and pain profoundly personal. This can lead to vulnerability, especially as one must accept that they cannot always protect the loved one without stifling their growth. Reciprocity and empathy in celebrating success: The golden rule in love suggests feeling genuine happiness for others' achievements as if they were one's own. A lack of emotional response or a sense of resentment can reflect a deficiency in love and a failure to see the loved one as an extension of the self. Championing loved ones' aspirations: True love entails advocating for and taking joy in achieving what the loved ones desire for themselves, even if it diverges from one's personal wishes or values. Sacrifice as an expression of love: Genuine love often requires willingness to sacrifice and work on behalf of a loved one. This contrasts with toxic attitudes that reject mutual support and encourage a selfish mindset within relationships. Encouragement and cheerleading for self-actualization: Love motivates encouragement for loved ones to pursue their passions and self-actualization, aligned with their interests, rather than projecting personal ambitions onto them. Respect for individual sovereignty: Essential to love is the respect for the loved one's sovereignty, treating them as equal in authority and autonomy, and refraining from attempts at manipulation, control, or exploitation. Acceptance without judgment: A profound aspect of love is the total acceptance of loved ones as they are, without a wish for them to change or conform to one's idea of who they should be. Accepting Reality: To truly love, you must accept things as they are, not as you prefer them to be. This is challenging as we often desire things to fit our own agenda and survival needs, which can prevent us from seeing and loving them for their true nature. Parental Love Challenges: Good parenting demands surrendering fantasies and ideals of what a "good child" should be, to foster a genuine connection based on the child's actual reality, not a constructed fantasy. Value and Appreciation: Genuine love is an appreciation of the other, valuing their existence for its own sake, not for what it brings to your own needs. This involves recognizing the intrinsic beauty in all of consciousness, which is a deeper existential concept. Conceptualizing Beauty: Beauty is inherent in all aspects of consciousness. People's biases and selfishness often obscure the recognition of this universal beauty. Deeper appreciation and connection can reveal the beauty in even the most mundane or disliked objects. Deep Connection with Reality: Enhancing connection with loved entities leads to more profound experiences. The depth of connection can vary from a casual encounter to deep, focused appreciation, as seen in the contrast between a casual observer of art and an art connoisseur studying a Van Gogh painting. Loving Without Needing: True love does not treat the loved one as a tool to satisfy your own needs. Instead, it cherishes their existence independently of your personal gains. Respecting Differing Perspectives: Loving another person involves respecting their point of view and striving to understand their unique experiences. This respect acknowledges the diverse subjective realities individuals have due to their unique physiology, psychology, and life experiences. Understanding and Validating Others: Deep love requires taking the time to understand someone's deepest fears, dreams, passions, and aspirations. This understanding goes beyond superficial knowledge and requires listening and genuinely caring about their interests. Difficulty in Loving with Differing Views: One of the challenges in loving humans is managing differing viewpoints. Love necessitates mental flexibility to accommodate these perspectives without imposing one's own, thereby avoiding epistemic domination and forming a genuine bond. The Basis of Connection through Shared Interests: Building connections and fostering love often rely on sharing interests, which facilitates a sense of togetherness and collaboration. Genuine love cannot be faked; it needs to be felt and lived with a sense of true commitment. Being Present During Hard Times: A measure of love is being present and supportive when someone is at their lowest. Love is tested not in the easy moments but at times when the person is despairing or in crisis. Validating the Loved One's Feelings: Love encompasses validating and empathizing with someone's feelings, which builds emotional connection. Acknowledging the other's emotions is essential for a loving relationship, and understanding those feelings is a cornerstone of genuine connection. Empathy and Emotional Connection: Leo highlights the importance of empathy and emotional connection in relationships, with the "magic phrase" to ask being, "How are you feeling?" This not only applies to romantic relationships but also to parental bonding. It suggests the need to genuinely care and listen after asking the question. Validation of Feelings: Validating feelings, even when they seem irrational or nonsensical, is crucial in building emotional connections. Dismissing or minimizing another's feelings can invalidate them, and it's necessary to recognize and respect their emotional state regardless of personal views. Meeting People Where They Are: To effectively connect with someone, especially those less conscious or developed, Leo advises meeting them on their level. The example given is how an adult must communicate with a child, using language and concepts they understand, fostering better understanding and connection. Understanding and Forgiveness: Encouraging understanding and forgiveness when people make mistakes instead of demonizing or moralizing their actions. Practicing these qualities can deepen love, as it shows acceptance and support even in difficulties. Patience in Love: Demonstrating patience is a sign of love; being impatient suggests a lack of love. The greater the love for a person, the more patience one is willing to extend to them. Seeing Goodness in Others: One powerful way to express love is by recognizing and appreciating the goodness in others, even when they can't see it in themselves. This can be transformative and is considered an advanced form of love. Recognition of Uniqueness: Showing love by acknowledging and respecting an individual’s uniqueness, avoiding trying to change them to fit personal ideals or diminish their distinctiveness. It's about honoring the individuality of the person loved. Expressing Uniqueness: Giving compliments focused on a person's uniqueness can rapidly deepen love, as it affirms their value and singularity. This applies not just in personal relationships but also in professional settings like praising employees. Generosity, Kindness, and Verbal Affirmation: Demonstrating generosity, and kindness, and giving verbal approval and compliments, especially to those who value words of affirmation. These actions contribute to a loving environment and strengthen emotional bonds. Keeping Promises and Maintaining Peace: Trust is nurtured by keeping promises and striving for peaceful interactions. Conflict damages love, so maintaining peace is a vital expression of love, and it's compared to deflecting conflict like a martial artist avoiding a fight. Honesty as the Basis of Love: Telling the truth is fundamental in love relationships, though it might sometimes involve complex decisions about honesty. Love can't be built on deception, as there's a profound link between love and truth. Safety and Trust in Love: Establishing safety and trust in relationships is a priority; love involves creating a reliable and permanent sense of trust rather than exploiting it for personal gain. This sense of safety and trust is particularly pivotal in nurturing love with children. Parental Reliability: Children's trust in their parents is crucial for their development into functional adults. A child who can't trust at least one person in the world fundamentally learns that no one is trustworthy. Reality and Truth in Love: Love requires appreciating an object or person's realness, flaws, and all, without desire for future improvement. Thus, love is intricately linked to truth; it is about seeing and accepting things as they are without fantasies or rejections. Appreciation of Finite Consciousness: True love involves recognizing and valuing the finite form of another's consciousness, despite its inherent limitations. It's a profound appreciation for the unique manifestation of consciousness in its present form. Acceptance of Selfishness: Loving a finite consciousness such as another person involves accepting their natural tendency towards selfishness. The ultimate test of love is the ability to love people who act selfishly, without a desire to change that inherent aspect of their being. Simplification of Love: The essence of love lies in selflessness; the lengthy list of love’s expressions is fundamentally about ways to be selfless. Loving others is challenging because inherent selfishness often conflicts with the acts of selflessness that constitute love. Heart of Human Experience: The core of human existence is learning how to love by becoming more selfless. Spirituality aids in expanding this capacity to love by aligning us with the concept of God, who is seen as infinite selflessness, synonymous with love. Love versus Selfish Behaviors: Love is broken by violence, abuse, judgment, control, manipulation, and above all, selfishness. Understanding that selflessness fosters love while selfishness destroys it is key to embodying genuine love. Visualization Exercise for Love: Leo guides through a visualization contrasting how love feels when one experiences negative actions versus caring ones. The exercise highlights the vast difference in feelings of love based on whether one is subject to kindness or maltreatment. Understanding Love through Childhood Experiences: Reflecting on personal childhood experiences and pinpointing what made one feel loved can clarify how to extend love to others. Identifying specific actions or words from family and friends aids in deriving general principles of love. Love as an Assignment: Leo assigns the task of noting down specific memories and actions that made one feel loved as a child and analyzing them to extract broader lessons on how to love, reinforcing the concept that love is rooted in personal experiences and expressions. Reflecting on childhood experiences of love: Leo discusses analyzing one's childhood experiences to understand actions that felt like love—such as receiving attention, support, or sharing intellectual interests—and encourages creating a list based on these memories to recognize patterns of feeling loved. Understanding through contrast: He suggests making a contrasting list of actions that made one feel unloved during childhood. This exercise can help in understanding love by inverting the negative experiences (being yelled at or feeling neglected) to comprehend what should be done to make someone feel loved. Turning negative experiences into positive motivation: For those who didn't receive much love in childhood, Leo empathizes with their difficulty but encourages using their experiences of feeling unloved as motivation to be more loving towards their children or partner. Self-assessment of one's ability to love: Leo challenges viewers to compare themselves against the ideal form of love he outlined and to consider how well they embody these loving behaviors in various relationships, suggesting many people fall short due to inherent selfishness. Dilemma of intimate and all relationships: He discusses Peter Ralston's insight about the challenge of relationships, where people enter into them with selfish intentions, trying to mold their partners into their own ideals to satisfy personal needs, which leads to conflict and potential relationship failure. Preview of future discussions on conscious relationships: Leo indicates a future video will focus entirely on conscious relationships—how to form genuine connections, something he claims isn't taught but is crucial to life. Hardest challenge—love: He emphasizes that love is the most challenging endeavor as it tests one's capacity to be selfless. A truly loving person must be highly emotionally, cognitively, morally, and spiritually developed. Seeking developed individuals for relationships: Leo advises seeking out emotionally and spiritually mature partners, acknowledging that such individuals are rare and suggesting spending time in communities where these individuals are likely to be found. Love in parenting and marriage: He stresses the importance of love in childrearing and marriage, asserting that love is the most fundamental need of children and a key component of a successful marriage. The duality of mastering love: Leo introduces the dual process of learning to love, which includes both accessing absolute love through awakening and god realization (potentially with the help of psychedelics), and practicing love in daily life with real relationships. Love as the purpose of life: He concludes by suggesting that learning to love through personal development and connecting with others is perhaps the ultimate point and purpose of existence, transcending materialistic or nihilistic pursuits. Love as an ongoing journey: Emphasizing that being good at relationships does not equate to understanding existential love. Love is identified as a continuous journey that takes serious effort and decades to master. The organizational challenge of love: Loving in all aspects of life, including family, work, and personal relationships, is complex and requires discernment in balancing autonomy and unity. Love's practical advice: The advice to practice love by seeking deeper connections in life, which spans beyond the romantic, extending to all interests and passions. Concept of love as a training ground: Life is presented as a training ground for becoming a good lover, where every experience is an opportunity to deepen connections and learn to love more profoundly. Application of love in daily life: Leo provides a universal blueprint for applying love to various aspects of life like work, relationships, and personal interests. Existential perspective on love: Love is described as a connection between parts of consciousness that seek unity, with spirituality being a pathway to deepen this connection with reality. Investment in connections: Stressing the importance of willingness to invest in and deepen connections to things a person loves, whether it's a hobby or a person. Love stimulating personal growth: Leo elaborates on how love can motivate personal development, with genuine care and appreciation for others serving as fuel for growth and expansion. Love as acceptance and appreciation: Reiterating that love means accepting and appreciating the inherent perfection and beauty in all aspects of reality, and recognizing this is essential for developing deep connections. Understanding Love's Diversity: Love is infinite in its expression, manifesting in countless finite ways and opposites such as rejection, hate, and judgment. It's about accepting reality, recognizing its inherent beauty, and extending that acceptance universally, unimpeded by personal biases. The Metaphysics of Love: Love, at its core, is the act of selflessly ensuring the highest good for all of existence, which is seen as the behavior of an awakened God. Since we are all God, but dreaming finitely, our journey towards love is an awakening to our true nature as infinite love. Progressing Toward Love: It's unrealistic to expect perfection in one's capacity to love as a finite being; the existential trade-off is the risk to personal survival. The goal is to become a little more loving each day, which enhances personal happiness and reduces conflict and fear. Inch Toward Higher Love: As we meet our own needs, life becomes less about us and more about serving and helping others. While complete selflessness is ideal, realistically, the aim is to strive toward it, knowing full accomplishment may never be reached. Leaving Abusive Situations: Leo advises that loving others should not come at the cost of self-love and respect. Leaving an abusive situation is not an act of hatred but one of self-care. It's important to establish boundaries, prioritize personal safety, and practice love from a safe distance if needed. Practical Love through Life Purpose: Leo's Life Purpose Course aligns with the concept of love by helping individuals to develop careers and lives that they love, showing how to align life with values and passions. Self-awareness in Practicing Love: Acknowledging imperfections and selfish tendencies is essential. Leo admits his own journey towards being a more loving person is ongoing, and he encourages patience with oneself and others as we all strive to better practice love. Love as a Lifelong Project: Implementing love is challenging and requires work, as seen through Leo’s introspective journey. He stresses the importance of empathy, understanding others' selfishness based on personal struggle, and the avoidance of judging others harshly. Ferula

New Kind Of Awakening - Infinity Of Gods https://youtu.be/skoXFwOxTIk "A solipsism without profound love is false." New Level of Awakening Experience: Leo asserts that he has attained a new depth in his awakening experiences, with the latest uncovering an even more profound form of solipsism, an ongoing theme throughout his spiritual journey. Challenge of Solipsistic Integration: Leo expresses the difficulty of integrating solipsistic awakenings into ordinary life and how, despite previous successes, there was an underlying sense that his understanding was incomplete. Reevaluation and Disproof of Past Awakenings: He emphasizes the importance of questioning one's deepest awakenings to avoid self-deception, approaching his most recent awakening with the mindset of disproving it to arrive at a deeper truth. Resetting Conceptual Beliefs: Leo describes a process of discarding all preconceptions about awakening to approach the inquiry from a state of profound non-knowing, emphasizing the benefit of occasionally wiping the slate clean to prevent past ideas from coloring future insights. Spiritual Arrogance and Self-Deception: He acknowledges the danger of spiritual arrogance, where one's extensive spiritual experiences might lead to a false belief that nothing more could be missing, and how this can become a trap for individuals on their spiritual path. Confronting Fear for Deeper Insight: Leo reflects on the realization that deeper understanding is often locked behind a profound, primordial fear. He stresses that one must face their fears in order to discover greater truths about reality and the self. Inability to Disprove Solipsism: In his attempt to delve deeper, he concludes that his solipsistic experiences cannot be disproven, leading to a reaffirmation of his understanding of being in an absolute state of consciousness. Absolute Sovereignty of Consciousness: Confronted with the impossibility of disproving solipsism, Leo finds himself in a "god mode" state of consciousness, contemplating the nature of God and the absolute sovereignty of consciousness, acknowledging that reality or God has no external limitations or authorities. Sovereignty and Absolute Consciousness: Leo Gura explains that contemplation of sovereignty helps one to face the reality of being absolutely sovereign. This awareness was a focal point during his awakening experience, reinforcing his understanding that one cannot escape or transcend their own consciousness, which is absolute and everything. Insight into Multiple Sovereign Consciousnesses: An unexpected insight struck Leo that suggested the existence of other sovereign consciousnesses, existing independently as though in separate dimensions. Despite initial skepticism, he concluded that absolute sovereignty implies the potential for infinitely many sovereign entities, completely disconnected from each other. Realization of Infinite Gods: Leo came to the realization that if he, as God, is absolutely sovereign, then infinite other gods—each with uppercase 'G' representing their absoluteness—could exist, forever separated and performing their own unique acts. This was a new conceptual frontier for him that contradicted his previous understanding. Paradox of Knowing and Not Knowing Other Gods: Leo grapples with the paradox of being God who is conscious that other gods may exist, yet also aware that he can never actually know or validate their existence due to being locked within his own sovereign consciousness. He describes this understanding as a divine logic intrinsic to God's nature. Attempt to Connect with Another God: Considering himself unlimited, Leo decides to initiate a connection with another absolute sovereign consciousness. He sends out an intention to connect beyond the edges of his consciousness, forming what feels like a telepathic bond where both consciousnesses instantly recognize their awakeness. Experiencing a Telepathic Connection: The connection Leo formed seemed real, and the entity he connected with appeared to be a sovereign consciousness like his own. They shared insights and recognized their limitations in knowing the true nature of the connection due to their respective sovereignties. Ecstatic Realization of Not Knowing: The uncertainty about whether the connection was real or imaginary led both Leo and the other consciousness to a state of ecstatic bliss, accepting the impossibility of knowing anything outside one's own consciousness. This realization felt akin to metaphysical intimacy with God. Compatibility of the Connection with Solipsism: Leo clarifies that the connection with another god does not refute solipsism because any other entity he connects with is ultimately part of his own consciousness. He describes the process as a next level of solipsism, where apparent connections with others deepen solipsism by being absorbed into his own consciousness. Expanding Consciousness: Infinite consciousness operates like a shock wave expanding through space, where any 'other' becomes part of the self upon discovery. The more one awakens, the closer they ride the wave's edge, incorporating everything it touches into itself. Fractal Nature of God: Leo conceives God as an infinite fractal, a series of nested singularities where each 'godhead' encapsulates infinity and layers of gods within. Recognizing oneself as God implies acknowledging an endless number of gods within. The Paradox of Infinite Gods: The multiplicity of gods and their capacity for individual dreams while maintaining their foundational nature as infinity introduces profound paradoxes which are integral features of such awakenings. Telepathic Connection and Collective Dreaming: Leo speculates about sovereign godheads choosing to connect, telepathically merging into a meta godhead which has the potential to dream collectively, akin to players in a shared multiplayer game forsaking some sovereignty for connection and experience. Risk of Losing Sovereignty in a Collective Dream: By limiting their own infinite nature to participate in a collective dream and create a sense of 'other', individual godheads risk forgetting their ultimate sovereignty, possibly leading to a loss of awareness within the shared dream. Hints for Awakening: Awakened individuals can drop hints for others' avatars, acting as guides for the godhead behind the avatar. The recognition of these hints depends upon the level of consciousness and awakening within each individual. Challenge of Recognizing the Divine in Everyone: Leo explains his own challenge in the collective dream to maintain awareness of his true self while recognizing and fostering the divine potential in others, even when they exhibit negative behavior. Seeing Highest Potential in Others: The practical application is to see and assist in actualizing everyone's highest potential, regardless of their present actions or circumstances. This empathetic perspective enriches life markedly but requires substantial awareness and awakening. Assuming Sovereignty and Encouraging Growth: Respecting the inherent sovereignty of every individual leads to a life of empathy and respect. Recognizing everyone as sovereign entities encourages us to treat them with dignity, fostering an environment of growth and flourishing across various avatars. Negative Feelings as Misinterpretation: Experiencing bitterness or depression during awakening may indicate a misconception of one's experiences. Genuine awakening should enhance feelings of love, connection, and peace. Continuous Growth in Awakening: Leo underlines the continuous nature of awakening, advising against complacency and promoting ongoing exploration for new insights and deeper love. Ego's pursuit of sovereignty: Leo discusses how the ego's desire for things like wealth, love, and success is not merely due to selfishness but is a dysfunctional attempt to achieve its true nature as a fragment of God seeking full sovereignty. Understanding ego and conflict: He explains that all conflicts, violence, and oppression occur when one limited identity controlled by ego attempts to dominate another, failing to recognize each other's equal sovereignty as aspects of God. Real sovereignty: Leo's awakening brings the insight that recognizing one's own sovereignty also involves acknowledging the sovereignty of others without diminishing one's own — suggesting true sovereignty means allowing the existence of other sovereign beings. Infinity and abundance: Describing God as a "magic hat" of infinite abundance, he speaks about the infinite potential within each person and the importance of helping others realize they are also part of this limitless source. Finite versus infinite paradigm: Leo contrasts the finite paradigm of scarcity and competition with the infinite paradigm of awakening to the truth of abundant potential, where no one needs to manipulate or harm others. Respecting sovereignty in everyday life: He suggests a practical application of respecting others' sovereignty, which would fundamentally change how one interacts socially and reduce manipulation and conflict. Awakening thought process: Leo clarifies that his elaboration on sovereignty, God, and interrelations is a thought process within his own consciousness, reinforcing his solipsistic view that nothing exists outside his consciousness — this is his dream, and it's all there is. God as a holographic concept: He expands on the idea of God's infinite holography, indicating that even if God is divided into infinite parts, each one fully contains the wholeness of God. Distinguishing this awakening from others: He notes the difference from previous awakenings in the depth of connection and love experienced, illustrating that true solipsism doesn't lead to disconnection but to unity and infinite love. Aloneness versus togetherness in awakening: Leo contrasts the focus on aloneness in solipsism with the potential for togetherness and connection, arguing that recognizing the imagined 'other' as part of oneself leads to deeper relationships than the materialistic worldview allows. Misconception of Materialism: Materialism creates a sense of separation and disconnection that can lead to despair. In contrast, awakening offers the experience of unity and the possibility of metaphysically merging with anything in the universe, which is uplifting rather than nihilistic. Awakening Experience Rooted in Love: The entire process of awakening is described as an evolution of love, with each realization deepening Leo's self-love and expanding his capacity for connection and unity with all forms of life. Solipsism and Deep Connection: This interpretation of solipsism is not isolating but allows for a profound sense of connection and love. Understanding that other beings are part of oneself enables a unity that leads to the highest levels of love—godly and infinite. Teaching Awakening as Natural Progression: Leo now sees more reason to teach awakening, viewing it as a natural action for consciousness to help other consciousness awaken, even if it's all within the solipsistic dream. Solipsism as a Dream: Initially, realizing life as a dream might be disappointing, but fully integrating this insight leads to embracing the illusory nature of reality, which can enhance one's enjoyment and appreciation of the dream-like experience. Integration and Enjoyment of Life: Accepting life's dream-like quality allows one to enjoy experiences like movies or video games more deeply, knowing they are unreal yet appreciating them without feeling deceived. Love and Connection as Solipsistic Realization: Leo stresses that solipsism does not negate connection; Love and connection are realizations that others are part of one's self, dissolving perceived separateness and leading to unity and godly love. Real and Imaginary Connections in Awakening: Leo clarifies that all connections are essentially imaginary since they are connections with oneself, and this recognition is what love truly is—an infinite self-connection dissolving differences. Identifying True Solipsism: A true solipsistic awakening is characterized by an overwhelming sense of love and connection; if one feels negative about solipsistic realizations, these feelings are misinterpretations and an indicator of a shallow level of realization. Practical Connections and Integration: Leo advises seeking profound metaphysical connections, understanding they are imaginary and embracing this fact. Integration of these awakenings involves repeated work and confronting illusions. Emotional Challenges in Awakening: Feeling negative emotions during awakening, such as depression or cynicism, signals a misunderstanding or incomplete integration of insights. Leo recommends examining and adjusting one's spiritual journey accordingly. Awakening Involves Love and Awe: Proper awakening should lead towards love, connection, peace, joy, and amazement at the structure of reality, rather than feelings of hate, loneliness, or fear. If such negative emotions arise, one should re-evaluate their understanding of awakening. Criteria for Genuine Awakening: Leo Gura identifies the signs of genuine spiritual awakening as feelings of love, awe, wonder, wholeness, and connection, accompanied by compassion and forgiveness towards others. He emphasizes that bitterness or negativity suggests one might need to reevaluate their spiritual journey. Navigating Negative States: Leo advises those stuck in negative solipsistic spirals to either take a break and enjoy ordinary life or to introspect and question their beliefs, possibly adjusting their spiritual practices to aim for a deeper and more holistic awakening experience. Doubting One's Awakening: Leo stresses that true awakening leaves no room for doubt as it is characterized by absolute consciousness and truth. If doubts persist, one is encouraged to deepen their spiritual work and to not get attached to any particular ideas or experiences. Psychedelic Path to Awakening: Leo discusses using psychedelics as a tool for awakening and the importance of carefully integrating and questioning these experiences. He advises against getting overly attached to ideas from psychedelic trips and recommends trying to invalidate past awakenings to build a solid understanding. Scientific Approach to Psychedelics and Awakening: Leo draws a parallel between science and the use of psychedelics, outlining that both seek the truth through rigorous testing. He suggests that like in scientific inquiry, one should remain open to challenging and potentially disproving their insights for more profound understanding. Understanding and Facing Fear: Pointing out the potential for self-delusion, Leo emphasizes the need to confront fears during the psychedelic and awakening process. He explains that the truth will withstand skepticism, and understanding replaces fear with love, indicating correct process engagement. Ongoing Nature of Awakening: Leo concludes by highlighting the continuous and evolving nature of awakening, urging individuals to remain open to new insights and experiences, and never to consider themselves "done" with the journey toward deeper truths and love. Confundo

State Of Consciousness Is Everything https://youtu.be/2u5M6tDc5TE State is EVERYTHING Core Pillar of Understanding Consciousness: Leo Gura discusses the central idea of his teachings—that state of consciousness is everything. He insists nothing exists outside of states of consciousness, including all physical objects and experiences, which he asserts are figments within different states of consciousness. Reality as States of Consciousness: The materialistic notion that consciousness is a byproduct of physical objects is challenged. Leo argues that reality consists solely of consciousness, which takes on various states. This view substantially diverges from traditional materialistic paradigms. Infinite Nature of Consciousness: Leo rejects the categorization of states of consciousness, arguing that there are an infinite number of states, which can flow and change fluidly rather than switching on and off like binary states. Introduction to Figments of Consciousness: States of consciousness are made up of 'figments'. Instead of viewing reality as composed of atoms or as a simulation, Leo puts forth the idea that reality is comprised of figments held within consciousness, comparable to elements within a dream. Physical Objects as Figments: Using the example of a Snickers candy bar, Gura argues that objects we perceive in reality are not reducible to atoms or molecular structures but exist wholesomely as figments within consciousness. Consciousness as Absolute and Ungrounded: Leo conveys that consciousness does not require grounding in a physical nervous system, body, neural network, computer simulation, or universe. Instead, consciousness is presented as pure and absolute, containing all experiences within it, including the material universe. Consciousness as the Fabric of Reality: Leo Gura explains that both our idea of the physical universe and the physical universe itself are figments of consciousness. The room you're in and everything within it, including complex entities like Albert Einstein, are not built bottom-up from atoms but are woven figments of consciousness. Inclusivity of the Figment Concept: Various items, concepts, and experiences, ranging from physical objects like gasoline and braces to abstract ideas like Bitcoin and even historical figures like Albert Einstein, are all figments of consciousness. Non-materialistic View of Consciousness: Leo criticizes the materialistic paradigm of reality being constructed from the bottom up, advocating instead that consciousness creates reality in a top-down manner, holding figments within without the necessity for foundational material elements. Complexity and Interconnection in Consciousness: The complexity and interconnection of figments are underscored by the ability of consciousness to infinitely nest and weave together these figments, creating complex constructs like a human being or an entire city. Fundamentality of Figments in Consciousness: Emphasizing the radical shift required to understand consciousness, Leo argues that no figment is more fundamental than another, with reality capable of creating anything, from a mosquito bite to the concept of capitalism, directly as figments of consciousness. Limitlessness of Figment Creation: Consciousness has no boundaries in creating figments, which includes breaking down or magnifying into infinite sub-figments, akin to an endless fractal zoom, demonstrating the concept of infinite consciousness. Direct Experience of Consciousness: Leo encourages direct observation to understand that everything, from used condoms to entire cities and emotions, are figments of consciousness. This approach does not rely on belief systems or scientific verification, but rather direct conscious realization. Relativity of the building blocks of reality: Leo Gura underlines that from the perspective of consciousness, no single 'building block' of reality is more fundamental or plausible than another. An electron and an abstract entity like a pina colada or a joke are all considered equal in complexity as figments of consciousness. Misunderstanding of complexity in figments: He argues that the human notion that some things are more 'natural' for reality to create is a misconception. Complexities of an electron and a pina colada are identical, as both can be infinitely zoomed into and analyzed. This illustrates that from reality's perspective, everything is equally plausible to create. Consciousness as the fundamental fabric: Leo reiterates that attempts to find a non-figment substrate of reality are misguided, since any posited substrate, whether an electron, a string, or the notion of a computer simulation, is ultimately another figment of consciousness. Life as a tapestry of figments: Leo invites the audience to consider their entire lives, including memories, birth, death, and even times of unconsciousness, as a single figment of consciousness woven from strands of smaller figments. Material objects as figments: He emphasizes the exercise of grasping that all material objects, demonstrated through the example of a smartphone, are not made up of matter but are entire pieces of consciousness which are holistic and qualitative. Understanding the infinite nature of figments: Consciousness is described as infinite and scale-invariant, not limited to any specific shape, size, or complexity. The scale is a concept created by comparing various figments within consciousness. The fallacy of seeking concrete reality: Leo challenges the idea that at a fundamental level, reality is concrete or discrete, emphasizing that concreteness itself is a figment of consciousness, and reality could be abstract, vague, or unspecified. Consciousness as irreducible: He demarcates that consciousness cannot be reduced further since it is the ultimate constituent of all figments. Consciousness is defined broadly as infinity, encompassing all possible figments and is equivalent to pure emptiness. Reality as woven figments for sanity: To maintain a coherent sense of sanity, reality is intricately woven together by consciousness using figments from the top down, revealing the challenge of understanding consciousness while retaining sanity. Sanity as a barrier to understanding consciousness: Leo proposes that trying to understand consciousness might require one to risk their 'sanity', given the radical shift in perspective needed to grasp the true nature of consciousness and reality. Reconciliation of Dreamlike and Material Reality: Leo questions why reality feels so solid, contemplating why walls feel tangible if they are figments of consciousness. He suggests that realizing the dreamlike nature of reality might feel like insanity, as it threatens our understanding of physicality and sanity. Sanity and Material Reality: Leo intimates that sanity is intertwined with physical reality; to experience non-physical reality, one might feel insane. The more non-physical reality is perceived, the less physical it seems, challenging our definition of sanity. Fear of Losing Physical Reality: He highlights the fear and confusion that would result from losing a sense of physical reality. The potential to walk through walls or for hands to pass through people might impress upon someone that they're going insane, disrupting their ability to lead a normal life. Survival within the Dream: Leo plays with the idea that our survival and daily functioning depend on the coherence and stability of the dreamlike state into which we are born. Anything that shakes the foundation of this dream creates fear because it threatens our perceived ability to survive. Quest for Normalcy Amidst Unraveling Reality: When faced with inconsistencies in what we perceive as material reality, humans seek to re-establish their baseline state of consciousness. They seek medical help and reassurance to revert back to their previous state, highlighting society's dependence on a coherent, shared sense of reality. Material Reality as a Coherent Dream: The solidity and consistency of material reality are attributed to a coherent collection of figments of consciousness. When this coherence unravels, it induces a sense of insanity and the impulse to restore the original 'dream'. Everything as figments within consciousness: Leo insists that experiences and objects like walls, brains, and even material reality are not outside consciousness but are absolute figments within it. This perspective challenges the traditional view of reality as material and separate from the mind. Understanding Consciousness through Awakening: To truly understand consciousness, Leo suggests that one must awaken to the interconnectedness and fluidity of all figments, unraveling them like yarn in a sweater. This shift allows for the realization that reality is infinitely continuous and made of the same 'yarn' or substance. Mind vs. Material: He distinguishes mind from material, noting that the mind is holistic and top-down, with the capacity for intelligence and sentience. In contrast, the material is limited to its smallest parts and works bottom-up, precluding intelligence. Features of Mind: Mind has distinct capabilities such as creativity, remembrance, forgetfulness, lacks a substrate or ground due to its infinite nature, and possesses will. This sets it apart from material systems, which require a substrate and cannot exhibit will or consciousness. Mind and Matter: The relationship between mind and matter is such that mind can create the illusion of matter, but matter cannot generate mind. Matter, as perceived in reality, is a dumbed-down version of mind designed to appear finite. Material Systems as Infinite: Leo Gura asserts that, upon close examination, finite material systems are actually infinite systems "dumbed down" from the top-down to give the illusion of being limited and finite. Infinite Field of Consciousness: Consciousness can be thought of as an infinite field of infinitely divisible and communicative 'voxels' or pixels that coordinate intelligently from the top-down. This field lacks any smallest resolution unit, shape, or boundary, making every 'voxel' boundlessly dynamic. Concept of voxels: To better illustrate consciousness, Gura uses the term 'voxels' instead of pixels as they can exist in more than three dimensions, are unbounded, and represent an infinitely subdividable field of consciousness. Intelligence in Consciousness: Intelligence is defined as the ability of these infinitely subdivided and coordinated subdivisions of consciousness to communicate and manifest as our physical reality, such as a human hand. Remembrance and Forgetfulness in Consciousness: Consciousness can selectively remember or forget aspects of itself, a capacity material systems cannot emulate. Adjusting the level of remembrance and forgetfulness is akin to the process of awakening. Limits of Conceptual Thinking: Conceptual thinking, modeling, and logic are insufficient to replace or replicate direct states of consciousness. They are constrained within the frame of the current state of consciousness. Hyper Thinking: A higher state of consciousness allows for hyper thinking, which provides a multidimensional and higher bandwidth intelligence that can think and interconnect complex ideas, similar to a highly evolved alien intelligence. Such hyper thinking transcends normal human cognitive abilities. Communication Limitations: Current human discourse and language lack the bandwidth to adequately convey or articulate experiences and concepts from higher states of consciousness. Accessing Higher Intelligence: Gura explains that it is possible for individuals to experience and access the intelligence of a highly evolved, superintelligent entity, which he refers to as hyper thinking. This hyper-intelligent state allows for profoundly advanced cognitive processes beyond the scope of our regular state of consciousness. Hyper Thinking: Leo Gura introduces the concept of "hyper thinking," which transcends normal human thought by combining rationality, logic, mysticism, intuition, and spirituality. This advanced form of thinking helps cut through the constraints of ordinary thought, providing access to deeper spiritual truths that are not reachable through traditional meditation alone. Limitations of Traditional Mindfulness: Gura critiques certain practices like Zen Buddhism which emphasize silencing the mind, suggesting that while these can lead to awakenings, they fall short of achieving the level of understanding possible through hyper thinking. Memory and State of Consciousness: He illustrates the limitations of memory and understanding within our current state of consciousness by comparing it to an HD image reduced to a tiny and simplistic black-and-white version, indicating that profound insights from higher states lose much of their transformative potential when viewed from lower states. Expanding Consciousness Bandwidth: Leo emphasizes the goal of spiritual work is to expand the bandwidth and memory of our consciousness, which is necessary to retain and utilize insights from higher states of consciousness. Parameters Defined by Consciousness: Gura explains that every state of consciousness sets the parameters for what we can think, feel, and perceive as logical or possible. To transcend these limitations, one must expand their state of consciousness. Possibilities in Higher States of Consciousness: He urges us to recognize radically new states of consciousness which are beyond our imaginations and suggests that at the highest states, there are no limitations, leading to "god mode" where nothing is impossible. Changing Consciousness States: The most crucial change one can implement is altering their state of consciousness, both in temporary peaks and permanent baseline changes. While peak experiences offer profound insights, changing the baseline state is essential for lasting transformation. Science and Consciousness: Leo asserts that science, birth, death, skepticism, and even rationality occur within certain states of consciousness, indicating that these elements are relative and not indicative of higher truths. Equivalence of States of Consciousness: He proclaims all states of consciousness have their value and warns that higher states may not be conducive for those wishing to maintain their sanity and engage with human life. Accessing Higher States of Consciousness: Most misunderstandings about spirituality, religion, and reality stem from the inability to access high mystical states of consciousness through traditional intellectual efforts. Misinterpretation of Religious Teachings: Gura laments that society and culture tend to degrade religious teachings due to translating them from higher states of consciousness down to lower levels, making them difficult to grasp fully within an ordinary state of awareness. State of Consciousness and Understanding: Leo highlights the difficulty many people have in making sense of spiritual concepts without accessing higher states of consciousness. They remain confused and lost, hindered by ideologies and models that would collapse if higher states were accessed. Defense Mechanisms Against Higher Consciousness: Gura notes that people have defense mechanisms preventing them from accessing higher states of consciousness, which could lead to the collapse of their current belief systems and the sensation of losing their minds. Importance of Changing Baseline Consciousness: Emphasizes the importance of changing one's baseline state of consciousness, despite the fear, difficulty, and potential danger involved. This change is rare, marking society's ignorance and signifying we're living in a 'dark age'. Isolation in Higher States of Consciousness: Explores the loneliness of reaching higher states of consciousness due to a lack of understanding and connection with others, also noting that at the very highest levels, it feels like there's no one else to validate or share the insights with. Methods to Change State of Consciousness: Lists various methods to change states of consciousness, emphasizing the necessity of deep concentration, prolonged practice, and intensity for significant shifts. Techniques include meditation, yoga, chanting, deep breathing, psychedelics, and extreme experiences. Challenges in Raising Baseline Consciousness: Mentions the challenge of permanently raising one's baseline state of consciousness compared to accessing peak states, stating that raising the baseline requires intensive work. Capabilities from Higher States of Consciousness: Explains that mystics and enlightened individuals may display paranormal abilities due to being in higher states of consciousness, which seem impossible from lower states. Varied States and Awakening: Discusses how each being inhabits a unique state of consciousness, with God being all states but only self-aware from higher or awakened states. Enlightenment can be temporary or permanent with varying degrees. Discrepancies in Spiritual Teachings: Attributes disagreements between spiritual teachings to differences in states of consciousness accessed by their proponents. Challenges the notion that mystical teachings are irrational, suggesting that disbelief indicates lower states of consciousness. Infinite and Unbounded Consciousness: States that consciousness is infinite, unbounded, and the foundation of all realities. It has no origin as concepts of 'where' and 'coming from' are within consciousness, making it eternal and always present. Nature of God in Consciousness: God is not just a figment of consciousness but rather is consciousness itself, encompassing all possible figments and existing at a meta level. Human Identity as a Figment: The biographical, biological self that one identifies with is a figment of consciousness, one of many that we, as manifestations of godly consciousness, dream up. Leo's Evolving Understanding: Despite understanding consciousness at a very high level, Leo acknowledges that his grasp on the nuances, mechanics, and details of consciousness continues to evolve. Challenge in Articulating Consciousness: Leo distinguishes accessing higher states of consciousness from the challenge of articulating, modeling, and explaining them to others. Struggle with Embodiment: Even with his experience of high levels of consciousness, Leo admits that he struggles with embodying these insights in daily life, indicating years of work remain. Awareness of Self-Deception: Leo is highly self-aware regarding the potential for self-deception and stresses the importance of constant self-scrutiny. Responsibility and Teaching Limitations: Leo conveys the responsibility he feels in teaching about consciousness, as well as acknowledging the limitations and biases inherent in his teachings. Imperfection and Growth: He urges listeners to take responsibility for their personal spiritual journey and not to see him or anyone as infallible, emphasizing continuous personal growth and learning. Spirituality as Personal Responsibility: Leo encourages listeners to embrace spirituality as a deeply personal endeavor that cannot be outsourced and to actively engage in their spiritual growth rather than passively accepting teachings. Dissendium